What Do We Do Now?
by CatRocks
Summary: Trent's gone and life's great. The Rangers have nothing to do but have fun. Until another myseterious figure appears. Now they've got more to worry about than babysitters. Sequal to What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Now with OneShots!
1. No One Can See The Tape

Cat: Hey all! Yes, this is the sequel to What Could Possibly Go Wrong? I have not written the entire story so there may be a while between updates. Also, be forewarned that there are a ton of characters involved in this story. Most of you may have noticed that when a lot of people get together chaos ensues and no one knows where anyone is. I have conveyed this confusion in my story. If you are at a loss to who is where, don't worry, so is everyone else.

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. If I did, people would never have been allowed to see Dark Wish because it ruined the name of Power Rangers everywhere. **

"God I miss pizza." Ashley declared.

"Can we get a Dominos back home?" Greg wondered.

"We should try." She turned to her best friend. "You think they'd be open to that?" Cassie shrugged and swallowed.

"Probably."

"Man, I pity you guys." Jason informed them, taking a huge bite of a slice of pizza that had so many toppings it was impossible to tell what any of them were. "No pizza."

"I practically live on pizza." Dustin agreed.

"On your marks," Kimberly was saying. Cole, Taylor, Max, Danny, Shane, Tori, and Blake were gearing up for round three of the soda chugging contest. "Get set. Go!"

Andros sighed as he reappeared at the table. He slid Tori's phone onto the table beside her now three-fourths empty cup and sat down.

"Nothing?" Tommy guessed.

A full week had pasted since the Rangers had fought Trent, and it had been a surprisingly busy week. After catching up on some much needed sleep the Rangers had gotten to work repairing the damage done.

Dana had gone back to the Aqua Base to assist with medical aide for her brother and father. Joel and Carter had accompanied her, to assist with the manual labor required after one of the domes had collapsed after a misplaced blow during the battle. Chad and Kelsey had volunteered to babysit.

Of the Astro Rangers, Cassie and Carlos both lived on Earth (Cassie in Mississippi and Carlos in Maine). However, Ashley and Andros had married and moved to KO-35 together. After the recent loss of not only the Astromegaship but also the Megawinger, they were, in effect, stranded.

They were stranded in good company. Damon, Maya, and Leo had no where to go and ended up bunking with Jason and Trini in Angel Grove. Cam was helping Andros, Trini, and Damon rebuild what was left of the Megawinger, and they were making good progress.

Kat and Justin and piled into Justin's truck and sped off in search of their teammates. Unsure whether they were dead or alive they hadn't wasted any time and were gone almost as soon as they'd realized that Trent was history.

Ernie had been thanked repeatedly for helping out and Andros had promised to pay him back for al the property damage done during the fight. Ernie had refused, calling it his "civil duty" and offering to help out any time. Little did he know how soon he'd be taken up on that offer.

Those Rangers who had lost teammates had dutifully paid their final respects and were just starting to come out of a period of condensed mourning.

Those who hadn't had reverted to an age old Ranger team-up tradition. Partying. Not only had they ended up getting two thirds of the rooms at the local hotel, but they'd proceeded to stay up until after two every night talking, laughing, and telling crude jokes. Even a few of the other Rangers had decided to put aside their grief and gave into distraction.

"They won't pick up." He answered. They'd been trying to get ahold of the Dino Rangers for days, with no luck.

"Did you threaten to tell about the thing?"

"Yes, I threatened to tell about the thing."

"What is the thing anyway?" Eric wanted to know.

"I can't tell you."

"Ah! Yes!" Max cried in victory.

"Brain freeze." Complained Tori.

"Ditto." Blake agreed.

"Weaklings!" Max declared. Tori and Blake exchanged a quick glance. They moved together and without a word. Tori grabbed Max and held him still while Blake commandeered Alyssa's Pepsi and promptly dumped it all over the Blue Ranger.

"So anyways," Wes said, stubbornly ignoring the carnage on the other end of the table. "Why can't you tell about the thing?

"Because then I can't use it as a threat anymore." Replied Tommy.

"You mean, because you don't know what they'll do to you if you do." Haylie corrected. The others laughed and Tommy glared. It made them laugh all the harder.

"They were the ones who came up with the Senior Pranks, okay?" He wailed, trying to get them to shut up. The effect was just the opposite. "They built a fake crime scene! They put a thousand glasses of water outside my office! They put all the faculty cars on blocks!" The laughter was progressively getting louder as Tommy got more and more frazzled. "They put cows on the second floor! I don't even know how they got cows, but they got them!"

"Can I borrow that idea?" Greg asked.

"Sure." Jason said magnanimously.

"Wish I could've seen the look on Tommy's face." Kimberly laughed.

"Oh, you can. Cassidy and Devin got it on tape." Offered Haylie.

"NO!" Tommy shouted, standing up. Several people in the restaurant were staring at them, but this was nothing new. People had been staring at the large and loud party for the past hour. It had started when the waitresses all refused to serve them on the grounds that they were large and loud. Dustin, Shane, and Hunter had then tried to stage a massive walk out. They got several other customers to agree before the manager came running over shouting, "MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?!" desperately and at the top of his lungs.

All the customers who had been bothered by this display had promptly left, leaving only several tables full of people who found them interesting. This latest shouting development was nothing more than the newest portion of dinner entertainment.

"NO ONE CAN SEE THE TAPE!" Kimberly giggled, but no one argued with him. Seeing this Tommy quickly clamed and he sat back down, sipping his soda.

Cat: The madness begins! Now, please R and R. Also, if anyone has ever done anything crazy in a restaurant or with friends, I would love to include it here so leave me a review.


	2. We Get These Giant Fans

Cat: Hey all! Thanks for all my reviews. I will certainly be using all the fabulous ideas in unwritten chapters. The plot of the story get introduced this chapter, so get excited.

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Power Rangers they'd all dance. Frequently. I'm so not kidding. **

"Okay, so, new day, same problem." Tommy summarized as he, Haylie, Kimberly, the Ninja Storm Rangers (save Cam who was helping Andros over in the food court) and the Wild Force Rangers stood in a large circle in Angel Grove Park. They'd crossed under six different sets of "Police Line Do Not Cross" tape to stand above the three pieces of the highly dangerous and incredibly powerful White Dino Gem.

"We are never gonna figure out how to move this thing." Dustin said despondently.

"Sure we will." Tori responded. "Eventually."

"We could use tongs." Cole suggested.

"Unless it does something freaky like it did when Max tried rolling it with his feet." Shot Taylor.

"Yeah, that was um," Max paused. "Not my brightest idea."

"I've got an idea." Said Dustin excitedly. "We get these giant fans." They all turned and looked at him.

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"You got it Joel?"

"Carter, man, I got it." He reassured him. The two of them were in scuba gear that was a closer cousin to a space suit and struggling to repair the base from the outside. At the present moment the two of them were attempting to place a large metal sheet over the hole in the dome. It was a crude but quick patch job only intended to last until they could get the parts for a more formal job.

"Whose bright idea was it to build this thing underwater, anywho?" Joel grumbled to keep himself entertained.

"Better not tell me."

"Why not?"

"Cause I am probably going to end up hating them after this." He replied. They pressed the panel up against the side slowly. "Come on. Almost."

Carter's calm tone was a stark contrast to the panic filled one that suddenly filled through the com system in their helmets. "I don't got it!" Jeol cried. "I don't got it!" The metal sheet slipped and despite the best efforts of the two boys, fell swiftly to the sandy bottom.

"You've got to go and pick that up. We don't have a spare." Mrs. Fairweather informed them.

"Of course not." Joel sounded very very frustrated.

"It'd be too easy." Carter was much the same.

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Elizabeth Moss was a good cop. She'd been on the force for several years now and never had any major problems—apart from one minor wreak, but she didn't like to talk about that. Despite that one setback, Elizabeth thought she had a shot at the upcoming promotion and really didn't want anything to mess that up. That's why when she saw some people scooting under some police tape at the park, she got a little mad.

Here were thirteen people waltzing around like they owned the place, entering an area that was clearly off limits. And they were putting her promotion in jeopardy to do it. Not only that, but they were hauling what appeared to be a massive fan. It took three people just to lift it and they shuffled along slowly and jerkily. However, Elizabeth swallowed her anger. She'd learned quickly that it was easier to get people to listen to you if you were nice to them.

"Excuse me!" She called.

"Here?" One of the men carrying the fan was asking.

"A little farther."

"Here?" A different one asked.

"Just a little farther."

"Here?" The final carrier asked. All three had sounded very strained, and Elizabeth attributed their impatience to the sheer weight of the fan.

"Left, just a tiny, there you go." The three dropped the fan with a clatter of moving parts.

"Hey! Gentle!" They were quickly scolded. "We have to give it back."

"Why on Earth did Bulk and Skull have that thing anyways?"

"How should I know? It's Bulk and Skull."

"Excuse me!" Elizabeth called again, louder this time. A couple people turned to look at her. "This area is off limits." She told them stiffly. "If you'd just step back."

"Oh um. Yeah. See, we're the ones who put up the tape."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh. Not like, illegally, or anything like that. We just huh…."

"We had permission!" The man sounded desperate. Elizabeth continued to eye them suspiciously.

"We're with the, uh, well…" The speaker glanced back at her accomplices for support. "The Power Rangers." She finished.

"As if I'd ever buy that one."

"No, it's true."

"I've heard that excuse so many times you would not believe."

"You have?" He sounded surprised. One of his friends promptly slugged him in the arm to shut him up.

"But it really is true."

"You have exactly five seconds to leave the premises or I'll have you arrested." They glanced at each other.

"What do we do now?"

Cat: R and R!!!! It makes me very happy, and happy writer tend to update.


	3. We're Not Out of Food Yet!

Cat: Hey all! New chapter is finally up. Sorry it took so long! I got a little distracted with a one-shot I wrote after watching Long Ago. But here's the next chapter and Chapter 4 should be up soon too.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. I don't own the trademark or whatever it is for Fruit Loops either. However, I do own a _box_ of Fruit Loops. **

"How's Ryan?" Captain Mitchell asked automatically.

"Could be worse." Dana replied.

"Specifically, How's Ryan."

"You've been asking that every single day for a week know and you're sill getting the same answer."

"He's my son. I have a right to know."

"Two words: Patient Confidentiality."

"Doesn't apply to my son."

"Actually…." Mitchell propped himself up on his elbows to reach his daughter's eye level. "And sit back." She ordered for the millionth time. Like the million times before, Mitchell ignored her.

"Dana, I'm panicking here. Just tell me how he is."

"Could be worse."

"It's not funny anymore."

"I wasn't ever kidding."

"Dana Marie!" He threatened. Dana flinched. The middle name was never good.

"Just sit back, you're still recovering." She said, hoping he wasn't going to do anything crazy or stupid. This time she grabbed her father by the shoulders and forced him physically back onto the cot.

"Is he going to be all right?" Mitchell asked, letting some of his parental fear seep into his voice.

"He will if I have anything to say about it."

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"But Kira!" Conner wailed. The former Yellow Ranger shot him a level stare.

"No 'but's, Conner. We're running out of food." She replied.

"We can go to the store." Ethan suggested desperately.

"None of us have any money." She responded flatly. She'd just brought up the possibility of leaving the safety of the Ford Family Mountain House, and it was a clearly unpopular idea.

"We're not out of food yet!" cried Conner, just as desperate as Ethan.

"We've got one package of bacon, three Saltines, and," she turned a box of Fruit Loops that were sitting out on the table upside down. A handful of Loops scattered across the table. "one two….seven Fruit Loops." Conner scooped up both a red one and a green one casually. He tossed them into his mouth and grinned at his frowning teammate.

"Five Fruit Loops." He corrected.

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Elizabeth quickly saved the number in her cell phone before flipping it shut. "Okay, so you're legit." She said to them, trying to hide her excitement. Mentally she was singing "I just talked to a Power Ranger" over and over. And she had. Carter had been more then willing to confirm that the not-so-random people (Elizabeth really didn't care who they were) were allowed past the tape.

"Great!" One of them said.

"Yeah. But if you don't mind—"

"Right. Yeah. Go ahead." She waved and they instantly went to work. They flipped a switch and the fan slowly puttered into very loud and agitated motion. Elizabeth however, had better things to do. She wandered off, staring down at the phone and wondering what excuse she could use to call again.

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"Okay, so, no go on the fan idea. Anyone else?" Shane wondered forty minutes later. The Rangers were back in their circle, staring down yet again at the Dino Gem. It still wasn't moving.

"Maybe if we got more fans…"

"No more fans!" Blake, Tommy, and Hunter all said in unison. Having been forced to lug the fan out in the first place, they really did not want to repeat the experience.

"Okay." Dustin said, suddenly mildly frightened.

"Actually, I was thinking." Kimberly said. "Once we do figure out how to move it, where are we going to put it?" The Rangers glanced at each other.

"Maybe we'd better figure that out."

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"Okay. You guys ready?" Cam asked.

"Very." Andros agreed.

"Go for it." Damon encourage Andros punched a button on the MegaWinger console. The Engines kicked into life.

"Yes!" Cam's face fell as the engine spluttered. "No. Come on. Come on." He urged. The ship did not obey and the machine fell silent.

"What'd we do wrong?" Cam wondered.

"I'm not sure." Damon took a deep breath.

"Here we go again." He handed Andros a wrench and the two got to work.

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Tommy's phone rang while they were all still pondering where to relocate the Dino Gem. He grumbled as he wrestled it from his pocket, fearful that it was Carter calling to tell him that Elizabeth had not stopped calling him. Tommy needents have worried. While Carter was reciving lots of calls from the police officer (incessant might be a better word), it hadn't taken too much begging on his part to get Mrs. Fairweather to rig something technological that blocked her calls.

"Dr. O?"

"Kira? Where are you? Why aren't you ansering my calls?" He demanded, in full mentor-mode.

"Because you'll tell our parents. You will, right?"

"Your parents are worried." He said, while thinking "Those people scare me."

"Yeah well, we were wondering if we could just come and crash in Angel Grove with you guys."

"What?"

"Yeah. I mean, you did offer."

"When?"

"Call number seventeen."

"You got my calls?"

"You left a voicemail."

"Not the point. The point is, you need to go home."

"If we just show up are you going to send us away?"

"No but—" He grimaced as Kira hung up the phone.

"What's up?" Kimberly wondered.

"I think my students are coming."

"You don't sound happy."

"My students are coming." He repeated, as if that answered everything.

Cat: R and R. And brace yourselves, next chapter….Napoleon!


	4. Tommy Don't You Dare

Cat: Hey all! Quick note, Ryan and Captain Mitchell were injured fighting before the Space Rangers showed up to save their butts. Just in case you were wondering. I probably won't be able to update for a while, my life is steadily spiraling out of control. But I wanted to give you this to tide you over.

**Disclaimer: Consider this piece officially disclaimed. **

"Hey guys!" Conner said brightly as he, Kira, and Ethan crossed across the restaurant to the series of six tables squashed together in the center of the room. The other Rangers were crowded around, chatting casually.

"Hey Conner! Wuz up man?" Dustin greeted.

"I notice you're alive." Ashley commented.

"Conner never drives again." Kira said sharply. Ethan shuddered his agreement.

"Come on! I am not that bad a driver!"

"Why, exactly, did you let Conner drive?" Tommy questioned.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Most bad ideas do." Jason agreed.

"Anyways, sit down." Kimberly urged. Kira grabbed a chair from another table, conveniently missing the way the waiter flinched at the idea of having to serve yet another person. She squished it between Kimberly and Cassie. Ethan sat across from her. Both of them were very far away from Conner, who'd managed to maneuver his chair between a potential girlfriend, Tori, and his idol, Jason.

"Oh yeah, Dr. O." Conner got his attention.

"Yes, Conner?" Tommy wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

"We got your phone call." Tommy sunk into his chair, mentally kicking himself as he realized what call they must have been talking about. Both Kimberly and Jason burst out laughing.

"What's so funny about the phone call?" Cassie wanted to know.

"Ethan. Do it, do it!" Kira urged. Ethan cleared his throat professionally and Tommy groaned.

"You three need to get your asses—butts! Butts! Because you're students and I can't cuss in front of students." Ethan recited, his voice slurred, dramatically replaying the drunken call.

"I only had one beer, okay?!" Tommy shouted.

"One. Yeah right, Dr. O." Kira laughed.

"No joke. You must've been going on at least two and half." Conner agreed.

"How would you know?" Tommy asked sharply.

Conner realized quickly that it was probably not a good idea to mention his underage drinking in front of a bunch of highly responsible adults. "Ethan. Keep imitating." He said quickly.

"Don't you dare." Tommy threatened.

"And, your parents called again, Kira, and they're really really scary and I don't know what to tell 'em." Ethan continued.

"You did call your parents and tell them you're with us, didn't you?" Tommy asked.

"No." Ethan answered. "And we don't plan to unless you all want their wrath here."

"Right! I agree! Bad plan!" Shane said loudly.

"I'm sure they're going out of their minds." Cassie interjected.

"They know we're all right."

"Besides, I am so not looking forward to another 'Oh my God. Kira! You can't keep secrets from us! We deserve to know where you're at! Yada yada.' Conversation."

"Another?" Trini questioned.

"They've left voicemails." The yellow ranger answered.

"A lot of voicemails." Agreed Conner.

"It was the only way to get ahold of you three." Tommy said pointedly.

"Do we look stupid to you?" asked Conner. "We weren't gonna answer the phone."

"You're going to have to go home eventually." Tori pointed out.

"Yeah, but not for a while."

"Yeah. There's a lot in live that I haven't done yet, and my parents are gonna kill me." Ethan agreed. "One of which would be eating Tai food." He frowned, glancing down at the menu. "Is this even in English?"

"Well, you should have been here earlier. We all ready got thrown out of four pizza huts, two McDonald's, a Jersey Mike's," Cassie tallied. She shut one eye to concentrate better and the three teens just stared at them in disbelief. "A Chick-fil-A, a couple of unpronounceable Chinese places,"

"A Food Lion." Jason put in.

"Yeah, but that one wasn't a restaurant so I wasn't counting it."

"Yes, but we got thrown out because people were eating in it." At this point the Dino Rangers were feeling like failures at life. They'd only ever been thrown out of a tattoo parlor.

"True. Oh yeah, there was the Steak-and-Shake." Cassie added.

"Oh! And the food court at the mall." Tori piped.

"Right!" Ashley said loudly. "I didn't know it was possible to get thrown out of the mall without doing something illegal."

"We were scaring everyone away." Jason explained.

"Please don't tell them why. Please please please." Tommy begged. The Dino Rangers turned to him expectantly. "Please!" he said again when Jason showed every sign of telling. "They don't need any ideas!"

"Good point. Sorry kids."

"No!" They all yelled at once.

"Can I take your order?" The waiter, who'd been listening in on the restaurant-throwing-out-of conversation, looked purely terrified. All eyes instantly turned to him. He gulped.

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"What do you know, they're gonna let us back in." Greg observed outside.

"Even after Hunter tried to conquer it."

"I'm Napoleon!!" He shouted.

"Hitler was better!" Conner yelled.

"Don't make fun of my height!"

"No more drinks for Hunter." Tori said under her breath.

"Maybe we should step in and save him." Blake responded, motioning to Conner. The former Red Ranger was now using Kira as a human shield. "After all," Blake continued, "he is new."

"I have a better idea. How about you try to control your brother."

"Me? You're a teacher at a school for ninjas. I just ride motocross."

"You're an ex-Power Ranger." Tori shot back.

"So are you!"

"Guys!" Cam stepped in. "Is someone going to help him or not?" Tori and Blake glanced at each other. Then they turned to look at both Conner and Hunter in turn. Finally, their gaze returned to one another. They turned, in unison, to look at Cam.

"You go first."

"Kira! Hide me!" Conner squeaked.

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"They're not leaving." The waiter observed from the safety of the building. "They're not leaving."

"Just calm down." His friend told him. "Just breathe."

"What if they come back!" He wailed.

"Breathe buddy. Breathe."

"They're not leaving!"

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"What now?"

"Movies!" Four people shouted at once.

"No way are we going to get 27 seats together." Tommy shot.

"You only need 26." Ethan replied. "I was gonna go and use the hotel computer."

"25." Kira agreed. "I was going swimming."

"Me too!" Greg said too quickly.

"I'll go supervise." Ashley offered.

"Aw! Mom! No!"

"I'll supervise." Conner offered.

"No!" Four people shouted that as well.

"I'll supervise." Tori offered. "That should keep him happy." She motioned to Greg. "You all just enjoy the movie."

"I'll go with you." Blake offered, not quite selflessly.

"Okay, so how many people still want to go to the movie?" Tommy asked, slightly frustrated now.

"It depends on the movie."

"Okay, so, which movie are we seeing?" He asked.

"Goodbye sanity." Greg predicted and at once twelve different movies were suggested.

"Oh boy." Maya sighed.

"The little vein in Dr. O's neck is doing that twitching thing again." Kira observed.

"Yeah, no joke." Agreed Ethan. "Maybe we should escape while we still can."

"Good idea." Blake said. "Everyone in the car, quick!"

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"Not a chick flick." Hunter said firmly.

"I second that." Piped Max.

"Oh. But there's a good one playing." Kimberly argued.

"No."

Twenty Minutes later.

"I thought you weren't going to a chick flick." Kimberly teased.

"Don't talk to me." Tommy said grumpily.

"Oh, come on. What're you doing in here?"

"The only seat left in the stupid theater didn't have an actual seat, just a back." He admitted.

"So, basically you could sit on the floor or be in here?" Kimberly summarized.

"Sit on the floor?" Tommy repeated, eyes widening. "I could do that?"

" People walk on that floor. And spill things."

"Bye, Kim." He said, standing sharply.

"Tommy don't you dare!" He didn't listen.

Cat: That's all folks. Also, just a heads up, there will no be no swimming pool scene, and many other scenes will be incomplete. There is just so much that I want to have them doing and it was taking too long. You'd never ever get to see the real plot. I'm sorry, but that's the way it hasta be.


	5. Sorry, I'm an English Teacher

Cat: Hey all! Yes! Finally an update!!! They will probably be coming out slower from now on. I've hit writer's block. However, the holidays are coming up so I can see some free time in my future. Oh yeah, and I gotta say that I saw the MF fanally and almost died. Anyone's who's read Be Near Her knows why. It was really gross.

**Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine. I don't even know who's they really are. My best guess is that they belong to those seagulls from Finding Nemo (and I don't own them either.) **

"Yet another day." Tommy sighed as everyone had returned to once against stand in a circle and stare down at the White Dino Gem. It glinted in the sunlight, mocking him, Tommy thought.

"Have we tried kicking it?" Ethan asked.

"Yes." Max answered quickly. His foot gave a semi-painful throb at the memory.

"Have we tried fans?" Conner asked. Everyone stared at him. It was a completely random idea, and Tommy had been convinced that no one but Dustin could ever come up with something so crazy. He had apparently been wrong.

"Yeah, didn't work." Dustin sighed.

"Do we have any other ideas?" Kira wondered.

"No." Taylor answered succinctly.

"Actually," Haylie put in. All eyes rotated to the source of the potential new idea that could potentially stop them from ever having to deal with the stupid rock ever again. "I've been reviewing the tape and—" She stopped at Max's laughter.

"I'm sorry. That just sounded so official. Continue."

"Well, Kira once gave her gem to Conner and Ethan and nothing bad happened."

"I got kidnapped by aliens." Kira put in dully.

"Nothing bad happened to Conner or Ethan." Haylie corrected.

"Lucky them." She said dryly.

"Good thing we rescued you, huh Kira?" Conner asked.

"Who'd you rescue?" She repeated challengingly.

"Okay." Tommy stepped in before Conner could get hurt. "So, the theory is that if you're all ready bonded to a Dino Gem, you can't bond to a second one. Makes sense."

"Wait a second. How exactly did you get a tape of this?" Hunter asked.

"Through the morphing grid I can gain footage of pretty much any incident to ever happen to a Ranger." Haylie replied.

"Hold on. Does that mean you have all our embarrassing failures recoded too?" Ethan asked.

"No," He seemed openly relieved, but should not have been. Haylie continued, "that means that I have _everyone's _embarrassing failures recorded." There was a general feeling of discontent at this, particularly from Tommy. He really really really did not want his students to get a hold of that kind of blackmail.

"Um." Shane swallowed and tried to look innocent. "Where?"

"I am not stupid. I am not telling you." Haylie answered.

"Da—I mean dang."

"They act like we've never heard a cuss word before." Conner said.

"No lie." Agreed Kira. "Eventually I'm sure they'll get bored though."

"Haylie. Maybe you should go and help Andros with the ship. You know" Tommy suggested. "For your own safety." She signed but left to go and be useful in the repairs process.

"Um, so." Taylor asked. "Who's touching the scary rock?"

"Not me!" The three teens said at once.

"Dr. O. I vote you pick it up." Kira said cheerfully.

"Yeah. I mean. Technically you did create it. So technically it's all your fault." Ethan added. Tommy frowned, but didn't really have a lot of choice. The "it's all your fault" argument was a very valid one.

He knelt down and everyone peered down at him rather intimidating. The Dino Rangers drew closer together as they watched their teacher get put into severe peril. Tommy braced himself and then scooped up the gem pieces as quickly as he could.

When nothing noticeable happened, he relaxed. They all relaxed.

"Yes! No more work!" Dustin cheered.

"We can have lives again!"

"Woot woot!!"

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"Guess what?!" Tommy shouted at Andros happily.

"We fixed the ship!" Andros informed him, just as excited at Tommy. 'We're going home!"

"Finally!" Greg cheered. "Get me away from these crazy people!"

"Amen to that." Agreed Kira. Tommy felt very put out. He had been the one to say "guess what?" first. And that meant that he was the one who should get to talk first. That was just the way it was supposed to go.

"Oh yeah! Awesome!" congratulated Shane. "We figured out a way to move the Gem. Which means we're all good!"

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Everyone turned to stare at the deranged teacher. "Never mind." He huffed under their gaze and they just went back to ignoring him.

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"Is that everything?" Joel asked hopefully as he and Carter reentered the Aquabase. They'd just barely managed to get that permanent panel on the outside. There had been cursing involved. However, not it was done.

"Yup." His wife smiled at him. "All that's all the major work. All that's left are some minor repairs."

"And a lot of cleaning up." Carter added with a glance at the water stains, screws, dust, and general debris surrounding them.

"Well. Yeah."

"Am I allowed to help?" Ryan asked, shooting his sister/doctor a meaningful glance.

"If you do it sitting down, yes." She replied, ignoring the look. Dana turned to her father. "You too, so don't even bother to ask."

"I hate being injured." Declared Ryan.

"Aw! Come on!" Conner yelled at the door of the restaurant they'd just been thrown out of. "We weren't that loud!!"

"We were hitting each other with chairs." Kira said pointedly.

"So?"

"And doughnuts."

"So?

"They don't even serve doughnuts."

"And going around asking every customer if they had snow in their ears probably wasn't the best idea." Ethan agreed.

"That wasn't my idea!" Conner said hotly. "It was Max's. And besides, Dustin did it first!"

"Well, you did join in." Kira argued.

"It was just two people!"

"Three." Cassie corrected. "The woman was pregnant."

"An unborn fetus doesn't count!"

"Technically Conner, you can't have a born fetus." Ethan commented. "Then it's just a baby."

"You know what I mean."

"Sadly yes."

"We also shouldn't have asked the waiter for lemons." Tommy piped, jumping into the conversation.

"Why not?"

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "Lemons are free, water is free, and sugar is free."

"But lemonade costs a dollar." Kira finished.

"It makes so much more sense to just make our own."

"Because it made a mess and cheated the restaurant out of their dollar."

"Restaurant is singular, but you used 'their' which is plural." Cassie interrupted.

"What?"

"Sorry." She said. "I'm an English teacher." Kira, Conner, Ethan, and Greg looked horrified.

"But." Greg gasped. "You're _cool._"

"Yeah. And you cannot correct a fellow teacher's grammar." Tommy added.

"Hey. Don't blame me. I can't help it."

"She really can't." Carlos vouched, his attention drawn.

"Hey!" Tommy slipped back from the insanity. He glanced over to see Kimberly at his side. She was smiling gently.

"What?" He asked loudly.

"I like see you like that."

"What?"

"As a mentor."

"Well, it is kinda all my fault that they became Power Rangers in the first place, so I kinda havta look out for them, ya know?" Kimberly smiled.

"You're so sweet."

"Ah. Just wait until I hand back your test grade." Tommy teased and kissed her.

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A figure slipped silently across the dark hotel room. The roar of the air conditioner by the window drowned out his soft footsteps. His eyes swept the room once more. The only source of light was the red digital numbers on the clock alerting him to the late (or rather early) hour, but that little light was plenty. The occupants of the room slept on, oblivious to the fate that would soon befall them. Pulling his eyes away, the figure turned back towards his goal. He slid a slightly creaky dresser drawer open as quietly as he could and rooted through it quickly. It only took a moment to find what he was looking for. The White Dino Gem blazed at his touch, bright light momentarily lifting the shadows in all corners of the room. The light died almost the instant that it appeared, but the figure spun around nervously nonetheless. He needn't have worried. The unsuspecting Power Rangers stirred only slightly. A grin of satisfaction twisted his face and he clutched the Gem all the harder.

Cat: Beware! Beware! He he. Leave a review if you think you might know who it is! If anyone guesses correctly 10 pages go up next chapter!


	6. You've Lived a Full Life

Cat: Hey all! Somebody guessed it, so, as promiseded, here's a bunch of pages!!! Only thing is, I'm not telling you who it is. It'd spoil the surprise. Hehe. I'm evil, I know. And if you know, please please please don't give it away.

**Disclaimer: I didn't do it, officer! I swear! **

"Where do you think you're going?" Ashley cornered her husband. Andros flinched. Bent over a suitcase stuffed full of almost all of the souvenirs he had recently acquired, he knew that the situation looked bad.

"I'm going with the Galaxy Rangers."

"Why?"

"I'm going to go and try to find Zhane and Karone."

"Andros."

"We don't know they're dead, and until we do I operate under the assumption that they needs help."

Ashley sighed. "Fine. Whatever. But no way are you going alone."

"Who's gonna watch Greg?"

"We'll find someone." She said assuredly. "Cassie!"

"Are you sure you want to—"

"Andros. I'm coming with you. Get used to the idea." He nodded. He knew better than to argue.

"Start packing."

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"Hey guys!" Haylie greeted them cheerfully at breakfast.

"You're perky. I hate that you're perky." Kira informed her grumpily.

"How are you awake?" Ethan wondered, grabbing a Styrofoam cup off the buffet.

"How aren't you? It's almost noon."

"So?" Conner asked. "I'd still be sleeping if it weren't for certain people." He glared at Max, Danny, and Dustin. The trio grinned sheepishly at him.

"Wait, were they crash this morning?" Kira guessed.

"Yup. The crash was actually them running a swivel chair into our door." Ethan responded, taking a sip of some coffee.

"Where'd they get a swivel chair from?" Haylie asked.

"The business center."

"The room with all the computers?" Kira recognized it because Ethan practically lived there and it was right beside a bunch of vending machines so she didn't mind keeping him company.

"Yeah."

"Isn't that on this floor?" Haylie verified.

"Yeah."

"All our rooms are on the forth floor."

"Yeah."

"But I thought that the elevator died."

"Yeah. Maybe we shouldn't have ridden up and down it for three hours." Conner said thoughtfully.

"Should've stopped at two." Ethan agreed.

"Yup. Should've stopped at two. Now, we have to climb the stairs."

"Stairs are only there for fires. No one should ever have to actually climb them."

"We only have to till later. The repair guy is coming." Ethan said. "Trust me. I made sure."

"People. Can we focus long enough for someone to explain to me how the chair got up all those stairs?" Haylie interrupted.

"Hey! That rhymes!" Kira noted.

"Focus!" Haylie repeated.

"They carried it, apparently." Tommy sighed, walking in with Jason and Carlos.

"Why?"

"That's the million dollar question." He responded. "And Ethan, don't drink coffee. It'll stunt your growth."

"Run." Kira encouraged under her breath.

"Ethan." Tommy said seriously. "Just put the cup down."

"No!"

"Come on. You're making a scene."

"You're making a scene. I just want caffeine." Corrected Ethan.

"Hey! That rhymes too!" Kira pointed out. A flash of movement caught Kira's eye and she turned just in time to see the receptionist at the desk across the hall duck behind the counter in a fit of laughter.

"You know, if you want caffeine," Carlos put in, "there's some Red Bull in the vending machine on third floor."

Conner and Ethan stood completely still.

"Oh no." Tommy said warningly as soon as it dawned on him. "Conner, don't you dare. Ethan, remember that you have coffee."

"Hold this." Ethan handed Kira his coffee quickly and he and Conner broke into a mad dash. Tommy tried futilely to catch them, but they had disappeared into the stairwell.

"Why did you tell them that?" Haylie asked. "Why?" Carlos shrugged.

"How was I supposed to know?" Tommy sighed heavily.

"It could be worse." He said, determined to be positive. "I mean, how much cash could they possibly have?" Kira decided it was a very good time to leave and ducked out of the conversation quickly.

She sought refuge at a table with Cassie and Trini just in time to hear Tommy shout, "AND WHEN, EXACTLY, DID YOU FIND OUT THEY STOLE MY WALLET???" Cassie and Trini glanced at her.

Kira shrugged. "It was for the sake of soda."

"Who stole who's wallet?" Greg asked, joggin the last few feet in the hallway to enter the room. He was utterly ignored.

"Wait, so, how long ago did you steal the wallet?" Cassie wondered.

"We didn't steal it. Technically we just switched his with Ethan's empty one. So it was a trade."

"And it stopped him from noticing when it first went missing." Trini finished. "Very well thought out. I'm so proud of you."

A phone went off shrilly. Instantly ten people dove for their cells.

"It's mine." Cassie announced. "Cassie." She intoned.

"Hey Cass. I need a favor." Ashley said.

Greg knew it was going to be bad news the instant he saw Cassie walking over to him looking that excited. She threw her arms around him.

"Guess what?"

"What?" He asked apprehensively.

"Your mom and dad are going out of town which means—"

"Oh no."

"I get to babysit!" She sang.

Greg glanced at Kira. "Help me." He mouthed but she just laughed at him.

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"Red Bull! Score!" Conner declared.

"Totally worth climbing stairs for." Declared Ethan.

"How many should we get?" the red ranger wondered, procuring his teacher's wallet from his back pocket.

"Well, we should probably make sure there are at least a few left in the machine for later," Ethan carefully considered the crucial decision.

"Right, but no way am I climbing the stairs again."

"So we need enough to last until the elevator gets fixed." He paused, putting his amazing calculation-related skills to good use. "Grab five."

"Five?" questioned Conner. "We only have four hands."

"Two for you, two for me, and one for Kira."

"Why are we getting Kira a Red Bull? She doesn't get sugar high."

"Yeah, but, if we're both high, than she'll need some to keep up."

"True." He admitted. "But dude, you're carrying the third can."

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"Kira!" Tommy raged over. Kira, who had been chugging coffee as rapidly as one could, decided it was not smart to run at high speeds while carrying a hot beverage, and set it down on the table.

"You coming back?" Trini asked.

Kira glanced at her teacher. "Probably not. See you guys later." She waved.

"Bye!" Cassie called at her retreating back.

"Good luck!" Greg agreed.

"Where's the wallet?" Tommy demanded of the two girls.

"Why're you asking us, we didn't take it." Cassie asked, sounding scandalized.

"Because Kira is not stupid. She knows that I will eventually catch them and take it back. So she would have given it to one of you. Now, who has it?' Trini and Cassie both laughed at him. "It is not funny. Just give me the wallet." They laughed harder. "Trini, come on." He turned to his old friend. She just shook her head at him. "I fought evil with you and now you're siding with them?"

"We're not siding with anyone." Cassie informed him.

"Yeah. We don't have your wallet."

"They honestly don't." Greg informed him.

"But you know where it is?" They shook their heads, still giggling.

"Sorry, Tommy." They weren't all that sorry.

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"Okay, so," Ethan said. Kira had caught them coming down the stairs, somewhere between the second and third floor. "Dr. O'll be here any minute. Where do we stash the wallet?"

"We give him the wallet and stick the money in our shoes." Conner suggested.

"Blisters." Kira shot.

"Okay, we hide it in one of our rooms."

"What do we do when we need money?" Ethan asked.

"Okay good point. Hey Kira, don't you have a purse or something?"

"A purse?" She repeated skeptically.

"Yeah. All girls have purses."

"And some guys." Ethan added.

"Do you?"

"No!"

"Okay just checking. Anyway, Kira. You have one, right?"

"Conner, have you ever seen me with a purse?"

"No." He said thoughtfully. "Hey. That's really weird."

"It's not weird." Ethan said. "It's Kira."

"True." He turned to his other teammate. "And you didn't bring one, just in case?"

"Now that I think about it, there might be one in the trunk of my car." She stared off into space, trying to think. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that there is."

"Score."

"One problem. How're we gonna stop Dr. O. from taking it?" wondered Ethan. Both of his teammates stared at him.

"You've never had a non-Cassidy girlfriend before, have you?" Kira guessed.

"Why?" He replied defensively.

"Because everyone knows you don't touch a girl's purse." Conner answered.

"Why not?"

"I don't really know. You just don't." he paused. "I don't even really know what goes in them." Both boys rounded on the Yellow Ranger. "What's in a girl's purse?"

"Stuff." She said vaguely, feeling distinctly outnumbered.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just, stuff."

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"Wow, Kira." Conner said.

"Yeah. Maybe we shouldn't have opened it." Ethan agreed. The three teens were standing in the parking lot staring at the open trunk of the car. Two-thirds of the contents had immediately spilled out onto the pavement in a very realistic imitation of an avalanche. Glancing at the pile, Kira figured that at least half of everything her family owned must have been stored in the back of the car including two folding chairs, at least five happy meal toys, a handful of M&Ms, and a couple bags of Halloween candy that they had meant to hand out the year before.

"Maybe you're right."

"Are we sure there's a purse in there?"

"No. We're not. But it's our best chance."

"Of course she's got a purse." Ethan said. "She's got the biography of Jane Austin on CD," he indicated something in the mass of garbage, "how can she not have something actually useful?"

"Who's Jane Austin?" Conner wanted to know.

"Where's the wallet?" Tommy shouted. He had spotted them through the window and had immediately run out into the parking lot.

"Oh no."

Conner slammed the door to the trunk quickly and the three teens spun around to fake innocence as their teacher stormed over.

"Where's the wallet?" Tommy repeated.

"What wallet, Dr. O?"

"Don't play cute with me, Ethan. That's theft. Now, give me the wallet."

"If we give it back, you have to promise not to be mad." Kira said.

"Kira." He growled.

"Promise or you won't get it back."

"I'll call your parents."

"You will not."

"I'll tell them about the thing."

"Will tell them the Ranger thing is your fault." Conner countered.

"Damn it, just give me my wallet back!"

"Promise." Kira repeated. Tommy sighed.

"Fine. I promise not to punish you in any way. Now hand it over." Conner sighed as well but pulled the desired item from his back pocket. Tommy snatched it up and inspected the entire outside carefully before daring to open it.

"There was two hundred dollars in here." He said. "Where's the money?"

"Hum," Conner said casually. "We must've spent it."

"Spent it?! On what?!"

"Candy, soda," Kira listed.

"Bugles." Ethan added.

"Yeah. A lot of Bugles. And Red Bull."

"You spent two hundred dollars on candy and Red Bull?!" Kira just stood there trying not to look too guilty lest she alert Tommy to the hundred and seventy-seven dollars safely stashed in her purse.

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"Oh my God." Tommy sighed.

"What's up?" Kim wondered.

"They spent two hundred dollars on junk food."

"As if you've never done that."

"Not in two days I haven't."

"Wow. We have to get you into a sugar comma sometime."

"Kim, if any of them ever see me in a sugar comma, they'll have enough blackmail to keep me their loyal slave for all eternity."

"I think they already do." She laughed. "After all, they do have you drunk."

"They do, don't they?" He groaned. Their private moment was loudly interrupted.

"Where's Blake?" Both jumped a mile high.

"Cassidy. Devin" Tommy breathed. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"You know them?"

"Yeah, these are some of my students."

"Where's Blake? Famous guy? Know him?" Cassidy repeated.

"I don't know, out someplace, why?"

"He promised me an interview. I figured he'd be here."

"Wait, how do you know him?" Devin wondered. Tommy fell silent. He knew better then to underestimate Devin and Cassidy. It was like underestimating a terrier, very stupid.

"He's um…famous." Tommy attempted to cover his tracks quickly. "And he came to Reefside that one time."

"Hey Tommy!" Blake called, striding up with Tori beside him. Tommy banged his head against the table.

"So, you do know him." Cassidy turned to survey Blake with enough intensity to make Blake acutely uncomfortable and Tori grab his hand possessively.

"Tommy, what's going on here?" Blake asked, slightly nervous.

"Oh. Wow. Cool. I just figured it out!" Cassidy declared. Tommy banged his head on the table again.

"Figured what out, Cass?"

"I didn't tell her I promise!" Tommy wailed.

"Didn't tell her what?"

"I've gotta go. I'll be back to interview you later." Cassidy promised. "Come on Devin." She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and dragged him off.

"What just happened here?" Kimberly wondered.

"Um, Blake. I think your cover's blown."

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"Um, Dr. O." Kira said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Why is the receptionist hiding under a table?" She pointed towards the dining room. The woman was cowering and in general trying to appear as small as possible.

"That's a really good question." Said Cassie.

"Could have something to do with the two weird kids behind the counter." Greg suggested.

"What weird kids?" Trini wanted to know.

"Oops." Tommy said and stood sharply.

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Cassidy filtered carefully through the names on the computer. "Kira, Ethan, Conner, Cassie Chan, Andros." She read.

"Cassidy, what are we doing again?" Devin looked really nervous and exceptionally guilty for just having scared off the receptionist and for leaving the bellboy bound and gagged in the elevator.

"Devin, don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

"We're in a hotel full of Power Rangers!"

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"Okay, what's the plan?" Ethan was the first to speak at the hastily called council of potential war. They brealy escaped from Cassidy and Devin. Even Trini had begun to see the problem with their knowledge when she heard Cassidy shout, "Wait! Can you sign my shoe?" They'd only paused on their flight in oder to save the bell boy who they'd found tied up and left on the floor of the elevator. The man had promptly fled the building.

"Do we need a plan?" Jason asked. "I mean, will they tell?"

"No, but they will stalk us without mercy." Kira answered.

"She's exaggerating, right, Tommy?" Kimberly asked in a whisper.

"I wish."

"They can't prove that we're Rangers though." Shane pointed out. "That's gotta be worth something."

"Five minutes of peace while Cassidy bugs our rooms." Tommy put in.

"Are you allowed to talk bad about students behind their backs?" Conner asked.

"Sure." Kimberly hit him. "I mean, no. I love Cassidy and Devin. Devon always does his homework and they're both very thoughtful when they want to be." He glanced at his girlfriend. "Happy now?"

"Very."

"Okay, focusing." Haylie said, reminding them what they were doing (she'd found herself doing that a lot lately).

"Right. So, apparently we need a plan." Cassie said. An impatient knocking rang through the hotel room.

"Please tell me that's not them." Kira begged. Conner glanced out the peephole.

"I really wish that I could."

"We don't have a plan yet." Ethan sounded terrified.

"We need to stall." Jason announced.

"Blake, you go out there." Tommy ordered.

"Me?! What did I do?"

"I don't know, but she was looking for you." Blake struck himself between the eyes a few times.

"The interview." He groaned.

"Interview? You promised her an interview?" Conner repeated.

"I was cornered." Blake protested.

"You brought her here! It's all your fault!"

"Give him a break, Conner." Kira demanded.

"Yeah. He's not suicidal. You can't just say 'no' to Cassidy." Agreed Ethan.

"See!"

"You go talk to her Ethan." Conner suggested. Ethan's eyes widened with fear.

"What?"

"You dated her." Cassidy bashed on the door again.

"Not when she knew I was a Ranger."

"So?" Other people were nodding their agreement.

"Kira, you're coming with me." He grabbed her hand.

"What?!"

"You're her friend."

"Make Conner go! He hasn't done anything useful yet."

"No way!"

"Come on, Kira. You got her that job. She owes you." Again the other Rangers were nodding.

"Trini, Cassie, come on." Kira begged. "Don't make me go out there."

"Sorry, Kira. But it makes sense." Trini said apologetically.

"She'll eat me alive!" A banging on the door came yet again. "Fine! Fine!" She shouted at the door. "I'm coming." She stood up, dragging Ethan behind her. "You all owe me forever. Especially you Ethan."

"Come on. Safety in numbers and all that." He said.

"Don't even try. Don't even try." She grabbed the handle and wrenched the door open. Cassidy blinked, composing herself quickly.

"Hi Ethan. Kira." She tried to look beyond them through the open door. Seeing this, Tommy reacted quickly. It only took a small shove to push their small frames through the doorway and Kira heard the latch flip behind them.

"Thanks for that!" Ethan yelled through the door sarcastically. He turned to look at Cassidy and Devin. "Um. Hi." He said awkwardly.

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"So, anyone know how we're going to handle this?" Conner asked casually. No one spoke.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"So, what're you all doing here?" Cassidy asked eagerly.

"All who?" Kira asked innocently.

"Oh. I get it." Cassidy said. "It's a secret."

"Yeah. It kinda is."

"Right. I get it. But, does it have anything to do with what was happening at the park?"

"Technically." Ethan replied.

"Why was there pie everywhere?" Devin wondered.

Kira and Ethan snorted with laughter at the memory. "We got a little bored." Kira answered.

"But just a little." Added Ethan hastily. "Mostly it was sleep deprivation."

"Sleep deprivation?"

"Yeah. Long story. Top Secret."

"Come on. It must've been awesome if it took all these Power Rangers to fight it." Devin said.

"Yeah. Awesome. Not so much." Kira answered darkly. Cassidy had one of those precious moments. She saw her friend's reaction and decided not to press. And Kira was grateful. Really really grateful.

"So, what're they like?"

"Who?"

"The other Rangers. Are they awesome?"

"Um."

"Can you match names to colors?"

"Um."

"Team at least?"

"Um."

"Come on guys." Cassidy begged.

"Here it comes." Ethan predicted.

"Yup. Here it comes."

"Seriously. I all ready know names. I could always Google it. You know, if you don't tell me." Ethan knew from experience that Google provided quite a bit of incriminating evidence.

"Um."

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"Um, Cassidy. Hi." Tommy said nervously cutting in.

"Oh. Dr. Oliver. Good to see you. I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"Maybe some other time. We were actually going out, but you're welcome to stay here with us if you'd like."

Kira and Ethan both gaped in horror.

"Seriously? That would be, like, that best thing ever!"

"Good. Well, we'll see you two later. Come on guys." He grabbed Kira and Ethan by the shoulders and steered them off.

"Why did they all keep saying "um" like that?" Devin wondered idly.

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"Well it took you long enough." Kira scolded.

"Yeah. What kind of plan was that anyways?"

"It was one to save your butts, now come on." Tommy said defensively.

"Are we seriously going out?"

"We'd have to find a restaurant that would take us in." Tommy pointed out.

"True. So, we're hiding in our rooms all night?"

"Basically."

"Cool." Kira responded, and then her look turned evil. "I can't wait."

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Trini, Cassie, and Kimberly heard the lock click as key was read.

"Kira!" They greeted cheerfully. "You're all right. We were staring to get a little worried."

Kira glared at them.

"Um. Are we in trouble?" Kim wanted to know.

Kira kept glaring.

"Look, we're sorry. We didn't mean anything by it." Cassie said earnestly. Kira stalked over sourly.

"It's true. We didn't know you'd get mad." Trini agreed. Kira's glare turned suddenly to a bright grin as she shoved a handful of ice down the other Yellow Ranger's shirt. Trini gasped and stood sharply, ice falling out all over the floor.

"Oh. I'll get you for that!" She shouted and dove for the ice bucket.

"Hey hey!" Kimberly shouted. "Break it up." Trini bounced an ice cube off her forehead in response. Kim gaped and Cassie burst out laughing.

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Max, Conner, and Ethan heard yet another yelp.

"What they heck are those girls doing out there? Committing murder?" Conner wondered, slightly irritated that they kept interrupting their fascinating game of Uno.

"Not sure." Max admitted.

"Go look." Ethan ordered.

"Me? No way!"

"But, Max, you're oldest."

"So?"

"You've lived a full life." Max grumbled something but got to his feet. Shuffling nervously down the hall, Conner and Ethan watched from the safety of the doorway. Max paused at the door as a crash echoed through it. He placed on hand on the door handle hesitantly. Bracing himself, he used the other hand to knock twice.

Silence fell in the hotel room. After a moment the door swung inwards and a very disgruntled Trini stood there, grinning at him.

"Um. Hi. Is everything okay in there?"

"Yeah sure, nothing's the matter here." Kimberly responded and shoved a handful of ice down Kira's bra.

"HEY!!"

"Okay. Bye!" Max said quickly and dashed away before he could be drawn into the madness. As soon as the door slammed shut, Max relaxed. He strode casually back into the room.

"Well?" The other boys asked in unison.

"They're having an ice war."

"Oh. Nothing to worry about then." Ethan calmed.

"Who wants to play Go Fish?" Max wondered.

"Oh! Me!" Shouted Ethan.

"How do you play Go Fish?" asked Conner. The other two stared at him.

"You've never played Go Fish?!"

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"We're out of ice?" Trini asked, horrified. Her hand continued to grope the bottom of the bucket in disbelief.

"We need more." Kimberly declared immediately.

"Kira, you go grab some."

"Me?"

"You're the youngest." Cassie said.

"So?"

"So, seniority rules." Kim and Trini were nodding behind her.

"Fine." Kira grabbed the bucket, deciding mentally that she'd just plan some awful fate for the other three on her trip down the hall. They giggled as she feigned irritation and slammed the door dramatically.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Okay, I've got a plan." Tommy announced. In the room with him were Danny, Taylor, Blake, and Tori.

"What did you want us for?"

"I knew you'd help and wouldn't rat me out to Conner, Kira, or Ethan."

"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right." Blake shrugged. "Depends on what we're doing here, but for the most part that's probably true."

"We're taking Cassidy and Devin out of the picture so we can all go somewhere tonight."

"You mean food? Yes!" Taylor cried. She explained herself under their gazes. "What? There's practically nothing left in the vending machine."

"She has a point." Blake said.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Tori asked.

"Actually, it's funny that you should mention the vending machine." Tommy said evilly. He quickly outlined the plan and the Rangers split up, taking their positions. Tommy kept watch around the corner near the elevator while Blake led the unsuspecting teens into their trap.

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Turning back with the now full ice bucket, Kira still hadn't decided exactly what that awful fate was going to be. She was seriously considering just dumping the entire bucket on them, but that lacked originality. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) she didn't have to bother coming up with a better idea.

As she turned she saw a man standing behind her.

The image only lasted a minute as a blur of two attacks struck her almost instantly. The first was to her chest, propelling her backwards into the wall. Due to either adrenaline or shock, she didn't feel any pain until the second blow landed. It struck her in the forehead, sending her skull shooting backwards where it collided with the wall, triggering an echoing crack. Her vision darkened before she could register the face of her attacker.

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"Mission completed." Blake announced.

"Hey! What are you doing out there?!" Cassidy shouted, banging on her door.

The four were consumed with laughter, and didn't respond.

"Come on!" She shouted. "What's blocking the stupid door?!"

"A vending machine." Blake called.

"A what?!"

Cat: A little bit of Devin and Cassidy humor in there. And, of course, a nice cliffie. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it.


	7. If You Don't Count That Part

Cat: Hey all! I know I said I'd update over Thanksgiving but I decided to edit the Epilogue to WCPGW instead. Also, I wrote a bunch more of the story so updates may be coming faster. Anyways, here's the next bit.

**Disclaimer: Would that I could. **

"Sounds like she either dropped the ice or was actually angry with us." Cassie said at the commotion.

"Either way. One of us should check on her." Reasoned Trini.

"I'll go." Cassie offered and pulled back the heavy door. To reach the ice machine one had to walk down the hall, take a left at the pool, and then enter a small tiled alcove. As such, Cassie didn't see the figure slumped on the floor until after the left turn.

"Oh my god." The next few moments were a blur of sound. Cassie checked for a pulse but couldn't decide whether the girl was alive over the incessant beating of her own heart. She called for help and heard footsteps behind her. Jason and Carlos were by her side, asking questions that Cassie couldn't decipher. There was more shouting and confusion but until finally Jason took charge.

The sound cleared under his command and slowly all the fear and energy was channeled to a use. Eventually the hall was cleared and Cassie shook slightly as she headed to the bar for a drink.

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Sensei and Shayla paused as they watched the Rangers bustle about like there was no tomorrow. After seeing that Kira was going to be well taken care of, they decided to take the time to go over everything that needed to be done. They'd found themselves doing that a lot lately. Driving and not drinking, tipping the waiters, apologizing to people.

"We need to check out." Sensei said to his friend.

"And pack."

"And check on those two kids. What where their names?"

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"Hey." Dana said soothingly as Kira moaned. "How's it going?" She'd learned from experience that it doesn't really matter what you say to a person as they regain consciousness, just the tone that you say it in. Kira opened one eye almost experimentally and moaned again. Dana pulled out a mini flashlight from her pocket.

"Who?" Kira asked, still not opening the other eye. She glanced around. "Where?" Struggling to sit up, Dana stopped her with one hand, pushing her back onto the pillows.

"The first thing they always do is try to sit up." She said to herself. To Kira she said, "You're at the Aquabase. You're safe." She flicked the flashlight toward Kira's single open eye and the girl promptly shut it, groaning again. "Can you count to one hundred for me?"

"Who?" Kira repeated.

"Dana." She answered, knowing full well that Kira probably wouldn't know who she was. After all, the only time they'd ever really seen each other was through a crowd of a few thousand enemies who were trying to kill them.

"Who?"

"Kira." She laughed slightly, releasing some of her tension. "I'm trying to see if you've got brain damage now please, can you count to one hundred?" Kira obeyed, counting slowly and deliberately, taking a pained breath much more often then she would have thought necessary. By the time she reached thirty-seven she'd found a rhythm, five numbers then a breath. It minimized the total number to breaths she had to take as each one made her chest burst into flames. Once she'd finished she just stared at Dana expectantly, both eyes open this time.

"Good. Now, what do you remember?" Dana was waving the flashlight before her eyes again and Kira wasn't sure if she was passing or failing the tests, and she honestly didn't care.

"I was going for ice, then I turned around and saw this guy and…" She trailed off, desperately trying to remember what happened after.

"Do you know who it was?"

"No. It was just kind of a blur….what the hell happened to me?"

"You got attacked."

"By what?"

"We haven't figured that out yet."

"Where're the guys? Are they—"

"Everyone's fine." Dana anticipated the question. "No need to worry. Just relax. I'll be back to check on you in a while."

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"How is she?" Ethan asked the instant the door shut behind the doctor.

"She's lucky."

"Lucky?" Conner repeated in shock. "She got mugged going to the ice machine!"

"Well, if you don't count that part." Dana made a note on a sheet of paper stuck to a clipboard on the wall absently. "Medically, all her injuries could have been much worse."

"Are we going to get any details?"

"Well, several broken ribs and a hairline fracture in her skull. But other than that—"

"She broke her skull open?!" asked Conner loudly.

"It's a hairline fracture." She reiterated. "She's going to be fine."

"Come on. There's nothing you two can do standing here freaking out." Jason said pointedly. "You should be helping Cam try to figure out what attacked her."

"We're not through here." Conner said, eyes narrowed, looking threateningly at Dana, who laughed at him. Ethan grabbed the Red Ranger and pulled him from the room, still squinting at her.

"Thanks" Dana sighed, grabbing her husband's hand for support.

"She's that bad?" Jason asked, seeing the look on her face.

"No. Just that lucky."

"Did she see what happened?" Dana shook her head.

"Someone snuck up behind her and that's all she remembers."

""someone?' Not a monster-thing?"

"It was some guy. She didn't see who."

"That doesn't make sense. Humans can't do that kind of damage." Carter mused. "Not on someone who knows karate in the middle of a hotel full of Rangers."

"I talked to the front desk at the hotel." Tommy put in. "No one saw anything. No monsters, no creepy guys in black ski masks."

"Which doesn't tell us all that much." Mitchell said. "Could have been invisible, or magical, or he could've smashed in a window."

"No smashed in windows." Tommy responded. "The police couldn't find anything suspicious."

"Still doesn't tell us much." Wes agreed.

"She was with all of us. There wasn't a more protected spot anywhere." Carter frowned. "Who'd try that?"

"That's easy." Ryan dismissed. "Someone who knows they won't get caught."

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"Tommy, are you okay?" Haylie asked him. She'd encountered the teacher slumped against a wall in one of the few deserted hallways in the Aquabase.

"I…I think it's all my fault."

"What? Tommy that's ridiculous." She said instantly.

"No, I'm serious. It's my fault."

"Thomas Oliver shut up right now." Haylie ordered. Tommy glanced up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time. "You listen here. You had no possible way to know that Kira would find that Gem. It is not you fault."

"But Haylie—"

"Up!" She cut him off. "Zip it, mister." And Tommy obeyed.

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"Damn!" Tommy shouted suddenly, jumping up for the lunch/after-lunch/dinner/sit-around-all-day-long table. Conner and Ethan turned to stare at him.

"I guess they got bored of censoring." Ethan said.

"Must have."

"What's wrong, Tommy?" Jason wondered.

"Kat and Justin." He replied standing.

"You think they might be in trouble?"

"You think they're not?" He shot back.

"Call them. I'll call Ashley and Andros." Cassie responded fearfully.

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"Hey Cass. What's up?" Ashley asked cheerfully. They'd dropped off the Galaxy Rangers a while ago and were headed towards the home of the Phantom Ranger, where Zhane had been sent to help when they'd lost contact.

"Someone tried to kill Kira."

"What?"

"Seriously. Some guy snuck up behind her in the middle of the hotel and attacked her."

"Is she all right?"

"Dana says she'll live, but Ashley, I don't think you guys should be out there alone."

"I don't know, Cassie."

"Ash, you're really good targets right now."

"We're moving, we should be okay. And, as far as we know he can't get us in space, right?"

"That's what we thought with Trent too." She said pointedly. Ashley paused.

"I really don't think Andros is gonna want to turn back."

"I think he's gonna hafta deal."

Ashley swallowed. "Right. I'll talk to him. And you be careful too."

"No worries, I will."

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"Attention everyone!" A voice came over the intercom in the Aqua Base. "Effective immediately, everyone will be required to use the buddy system at all times."

"I wonder if they're including the bathroom." Conner said mildly.

"Gross!" Taylor announced

"I seriously don't think that the buddy system is gonna help much." Ethan said.

"Why not, Ethan?" Cole asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"Um, maybe cause there was pretty much every Power Ranger ever in one building and Kira still got hurt."

"It was a surprise attack." Cole justified. "We'll be ready next time."

Ethan wasn't listening. Instead he just grumbled.

"I thought bad guys never won."

Cat: I'm shooting for at least ten reviews this chapter. It only takes like ten seconds and all you have to say is what you did or didn't like so please go ahead! Thanks ahead of time!!


	8. I Called Dibs

Cat: Hey all! Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I was waiting for ten reviews on the last chapter. And frankly, I think it's sad that I have at least 90 people who read every chapter, but only like, five of you who actually bother to help me write better (btw, thank you some1, syltherinangel, riverkirby, the pink1, and pureangel) Seriously, y'all. If you want me to type pages and page for you, please just take the time to type a sentence or two for me.

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine. **

"Where's my jeep?" Tommy demanded.

"Excuse me?" Carter fumbled.

"There's no answer from Kat or Justin. I need to go find them. Now where's the jeep?" Carter pointed obediently.

"But I don't think you should go alone!" He called but Tommy had already vanished from view.

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"Hey Kira!" Conner said brightly as he and Ethan slammed the door to the medical bay shut behind them. Unthinkingly, he grabbed her in a hug.

"Owowowowow."

He pulled away. "Right. Sorry."

She looked between the two boys and carefully considered the relived looks on their faces when they had entered. "Are you allowed to be in here?"

"Technically no." Ethan replied.

"Oh no worries, Kira. Max and Danny are keeping watch." Conner said. Not surprisingly, this was not very reassuring.

"What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." They looked at her skeptically. "Really." They continued to watch her suspiciously. "Fine-ish." She tried. They still didn't look away. "Would you stop that?"

"Nope." Replied Conner.

"You've got a TV in here?" Ethan asked loudly, suddenly noticing the device.

"Yeah. Apparently Ryan brought it in when he was bedridden."

"Oh. Cool. Does it get cable?"

"Yup."

"Move over." Ethan demanded and Kira shifted slightly and the two boys jumped on the bottom half of the bed luxuriously.

"Remote." Conner ordered, holding out a hand expectantly.

"No way Mister." Kira responded firmly.

"But—"

"No."

"Fine." There was a pause.

"Hey Kira, just so you know," Conner began, "We're gonna find out what attacked you and kick its ass."

"Oh no you won't." Kira replied. "I called dibs."

"You did not."

"I did too!"

"I just did."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that got attacked. That's like automatically calling dibs."

"It is not."

"It is too!"

"It's not, Kira." Ethan vouched. "Just give it up."

"Way to stick up for me, Ethan." She said sarcastically. Ethan shrugged. "And it is too calling dibs." She added.

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"So. There's a new evil villain after the Power Rangers." Haylie sighed.

"That seems to be the case." Sensei agreed.

"How original." She continued sarcastically.

"Well, there are only so many evil plots that one can come up with." The ninja defended. "He is not any less the villain for it."

"Nope. I wish we knew more about him though."

"He'll reveal himself to use eventually." Sensei said calmly. "They always do."

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"Max, what are you doing?" Alyssa asked loudly.

"Shhh!!!" He hissed and both Alyssa and her fiancé glanced around nervously. "You're going to give us away."

"To who?"

"Evil prison guard lady."

"Who?"

"Dana."

"The doctor? She's really nice."

"She's pure evil."

"Did she tell you to stop eating so many marshmallows?" Cole guessed.

"How'd you know?" Danny wondered.

"Um, maybe because two entire bags of marshmallows added to the stress of the other day had you throwing up for two hours straight." Alyssa replied.

"Oh yeah."

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"Am I allowed out of bed yet?" Kira wondered.

"Can you sit up straight?" Dana challenged. Kira braced herself and used both hands to push herself upright. This might have been enough to pass the test if Dana hadn't noticed the look of pain that passed across her face. "That's a no, lie back." She ordered.

"But-"

"Do it." Kira sighed but obliged.

"Am I allowed out of bed tomorrow?" Kira asked hopefully.

"We'll see."

"That's code for 'no.'" Kira complained.

"Yes it is. You're very perceptive."

"Can I be perceptive not in this stupid room?"

"No."

"Not even for a tiny tiny short time?" Kira asked, holding up two fingers about an inch apart to illustrate. "Lunch, maybe?"

Dana shook her head and left with a wave. She paused on the other side of the door. "The cabin fever begins." She declared.

Cat: Yes, the cabin fever begins. Next chapter: The 4th of July. Be prepared.


	9. And the Mascot is

Cat: Hey all! I am posting this now, just because I think this winter could use a little bit of summer. Also I'm trying to avoid studding for exams. looks innocent And I didn't realize exactly how much chaos occurs before they get to the ballpark, so the humor will last an whole other chapter after this. Get excited!!!

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. Also, if you do not the 4th of July ruined for you forever, don't read this chapter. **

"Kim!" Trini said in shock. Having just entered the room of one of her best friends to find her sobbing, she was entirely entitled to a little surprise. "Oh girl, what happened?" She sat down beside her and began rubbing her back compassionately. It was a moment before Kim managed to suppress her sobs enough to speak. When she did it came out in a high pitched wail and ended with her reversion to wordless tears.

"Kat and Justin!"

"Oh God no."

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"Mesogog was the ugliest, I'm sorry." Conner insisted.

"Bansheera was way uglier." Ryan argued.

"No way man!"

"Yes way, man." Mocked Ryan.

"Seriously though, once Mesogog did that weird transformation thing…" Ethan reminded them.

"Oh yeah!" Conner said, eyes bright. "I'd forgotten about that! He got ten times uglier!"

"I feel kind left out." Cassie admitted to Max and Danny. "Astronoma wasn't ugly."

"Yeah. Master Org wouldn't have won any contests, but it really wasn't all that bad." Danny replied.

"Nazor. Nazor was ugly." Max said.

"Yeah! He was, wasn't he?" Danny brightened.

"Great." Cassie sighed. "Am I the only one who didn't have a super ugly villain?"

"Darkonda." Haylie reminded her.

"Yes!" Cassie shouted. Haylie then leaned back towards the main thread of conversation.

"And Mesogog was the ugliest."

Carlos came barreling up to the lunch table. He stood in harsh contrast to the casual and happy atmosphere in the room. Panicked and sad he didn't stop to listen in on the conversation he was interrupting.

"Cassie." He said loudly, banging his hands on the table. The entire group fell silent and turned at listen to him gravely. "You have to get Ashley and Andros back here now."

"What? Why?" She floundered.

"It's Kat and Justin. They've been killed." (A/N: Sam's parents are divorced, and he was staying with his mother and is safe and sound in Utah.)

"What?"

Haylie stood quickly. "Tommy went to go look for them. Where is he? He could be in trouble."

"I don't know." Carlos admitted. "I just got the word from Trini a second ago and…and…I don't know anything that's happening right now."

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"It's Trent again." Captain Mitchell said instantly. He was present at a meeting called for the mentors and included him, Shayla, Sensei, and Haylie.

"Can't be." Haylie shot. "We defeated Trent. Even if he is alive, he has no powers."

"Somebody is purposefully targeting Rangers. The only criminal who's ever done that is Trent. Not only that, but he's killed. And Trent's the only one who's managed that too."

"Psycho Pink." Haylie retorted.

"Fine. So he's the only evil that's managed to kill more then one Ranger." Mitchell allowed.

"I wonder if anyone else is seeing the same pattern that I am." Sensei said.

"What's that?" Shayla wondered.

"All three people that were attacked were on a team with Tommy Oliver."

"That's it then." Shayla declared. "Whoever it is is after one of the most power Rangers in history."

"And if you can't beat him in battle," Mitchell finished for her, "then you have to get to him in the only other way. Through people he cares about."

"It's working." Haylie informed them, worry clear in her countenance.

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"Has Tommy come out of his room yet?" Trini wondered. Kimberly shook her head dismally. The Yellow Ranger appraised her friend. Understandably, Kim didn't look that good. She was staring off into space and had an entire carton of ice cream in front of her. "Okay, girl." Trini said firmly, pulling out a chair across from her. "This needs to go away." She yanked the ice cream away as she sat down and Kimberly just stared at her with large betrayed eyes. "It's gonna be okay." Trini said, much more compassionately, and Kimberly nodded halfheartedly.

"You guys know what I realized when I woke up this morning?" Carlos asked, loudly interrupting the tender scene. The Green Ranger was followed by several others, all of whom had decided to storm the dinning room at the same time.

"That George Bush's ears stick out?" Conner guessed.

"No! It's the Fourth of July!"

"Seriously?" Cassie questioned. Carlos nodded proudly.

"No!!" Trini wailed.

"What's the matter with you?"

"I can't tell you, it'll ruin this holiday for you forever."

"Well, you have to tell us now." Conner said pointedly.

"Fine. But I warned you. The 4th of July means that summer's half over!"

"NOOOO!!!!"

"Well, we have to do something to celebrate anyway." Max said loudly.

"True." Cole paused. "How?"

"I'm wearing red." Conner offered.

"Blue!" Ethan agreed.

"Doesn't count." Taylor interrupted.

"Why not?" Alyssa wondered.

"Because you wear those colors every day."

"So?" Max asked.

"Fireworks!" Conner said suddenly. "Can we get fireworks?"

"Underwater?" Alyssa doubted.

"Let's go to a baseball game." Carlos said loudly.

"What?"

"Yeah. Baseball is America's pastime."

"Soccer is America's pastime." Conner answered.

"Well, yes, it is," Carlos allowed. "But technically it's baseball."

"Um. I couldn't exactly follow that." Danny admitted.

"Doesn't matter." Max told him. To everyone else he said, "I say we go."

"Yeah. I haven't gone to a game in ages." Ethan agreed.

"So it's a plan. Let's go as Carter if Mariner Bay has a team."

"Wait," Greg said. Everyone halted. "What's the Fourth of July?" Several members of the group grabbed him and yanked him from the room, every single one of them chattering at once.

"I think you should go." Trini said the instant the door closed behind them.

"What?"

"Yeah. It'll be good for you to get out. And make Tommy go. Have some fun." Kim looked hesitant.

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"You talk to Andros about coming back yet, Ashley?" Cassie asked over the phone.

"He said 'no.'"

"What?!"

"He still thinks that Zhane is out here somewhere."

"So? Finding him won't do anyone much good if you both get killed in the process."

"I think he's gone a little crazy, Cass." She said in a low voice.

"Well then get his butt back down here."

"I can't." Cassie took a deep, calming, breath.

"Fine." There was a pause. "By the way, your son is holiday deprived."

"What?"

"He asked what the Fourth of July was."

"Okay, well, KO 35 doesn't celebrate the Fourth of July. He get's Christmas and a Sweet 16 and a bunch of weird alien holidays too. He's not deprived."

"He's deprived."

"No he's really not."

"Yeah, he is."

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"You're going to a baseball game without me?" Kira whined.

"We'll bring you back a hot dog." Conner offered.

"And a T-shirt." Ethan added.

"You're going without me."

"We'll get it signed by the mascot." Ethan promised.

"The hot dog?" queried Kira.

"No! The shirt."

"But Kira, you won't believe who the mascot is." Conner said excitedly. Ethan hit him warningly. "What?"

"Don't rub it in."

"Rub what in?" Kira asked loudly. Ethan hit himself in the head a couple times as Conner continued entirely unperturbed.

"Well, the team name is The Rangers."

"Wait," Kira ordered as the painful truth was revealed to her. "As in The Power Rangers?" Conner nodded.

"And the mascot is…"

"The Red Ranger."

"And everyone knows that you're the Red Ranger."

"Um. Yeah. I guess."

"So there's going to be chaos."

"Maybe."

"And I don't get to see?!"

Cat: Yes, insanity. R and R please!


	10. Oops

Cat: Hey all! SOOOOO sorry for the long wait! I had massive writer's block. However, I'm kinda on a roll right now and I've written several more chapters and the end is in sight (for me—y'all still have to wait looks devious) Thanks so much for your patience and enjoy!!!

**Disclaimer: It's official. I no longer desire to own the Power Rangers—Operation Overdrive is Turbo all over again. So I sold it on eBay to the highest bidder. **

"I don't get it." Dana admitted. "We've always avoided the ball park, and now you want to go?"

"Yeah. It'll be fun." Carter assured her. "And you and I won't be the only known Rangers there so they shouldn't bother us too much. Besides," He continued, "It's the Fourth of July. We need to get out of here. And Hannah'll love it." Dana sighed.

"Fine. Whatever."

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"Now guys," Joel said to Conner and Ethan just outside of the ball park. "There's a few things you've got to know before going in there. It's going to be crazy. The Rangers love it when Power Rangers come. But, if they ask you to morph you say 'no.'"

"Duh." Conner said. "We can't morph."

"Right well, if they ask you to show off a couple moves, you also say 'no.'"

"Also duh." Ethan said. "Conner had no skill anyways.."

"And if they ask you to wear the suite," Kelsey interrupted.

"Wait, what suite?" Conner wondered.

"The one the mascot wears." She clarified. Conner's eyes widened. "Well, if they ask you to wear it you say that Joel really wants to." The Green Ranger stared at her in horror.

"I do?"

"Come on Ethan." Conner said, grabbing his friend. "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Joel shouted after them. They didn't pause. "I don't wanna wear the suite!" It was pointless.

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"No." Joel said for the fourth time.

"We'll give you a complimentary travel mug." The manager offered.

"I don't need a travel mug. I'm just here to watch the game." The manger sighed and took a step back. Joel had been there enough times that he knew he couldn't be pressured. Besides, he had an entirely new source of extra income.

"A commercial?" Conner repeated. "Dude, are you serious?"

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"CHARGE!" The Rangers yelled as the giant screen prompted.

"So, when was the last time they actually won a game?" Alyssa wondered.

"I don't think they've ever actually won a game." Dana replied. "Oh, popcorn!" She grabbed the bucket from her husband and put it between herself and Hannah. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Hey. I wanted some!" Both girls looked up at him innocently. He sighed. "Never mind."

"There's nobody here." Wes observed.

"There's never anyone here." Kelsey replied casually.

"At least we know this is one place we're not gonna get thrown out of." Wes said. "No way they'd toss the Power Rangers out of a baseball game for a team named after them and who nobody watches anyways."

"True." Joel said. "But we still have all the restaurants in Mariner Bay."

"Let's not try to get thrown out." Taylor said.

"Why not?" They turned to her, waiting for an answer. But she couldn't think of one.

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"I cannot believe we got thrown out." Wes said in amazement. They were all standing in the parking lot, staring at Tommy and Conner.

"What?" Tommy asked innocently.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what? He was making an idiot of himself."

"So you decided to chase him through the entire stadium? That makes perfect sense."

"Hey!" Conner said defensively. "You all were being too noisy too!"

"What're you talking about?"

"That lady behind us? Yeah, that was the owner's wife."

"Oops."

"Hey! I said leave or I'm calling the cops!"

"Okay! Okay!" Conner shouted back. "We're leaving!" he turned back to his friends. "Can I drive?"

"No."

"Can I drive?" Kelsey asked hopefully.

"NO!"

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"You're back?" Kira questioned. She glanced down at her watch. "It's only been, like, an hour."

"We got thrown out." Ethan explained.

"For what?"

"Oh, the usual." Conner answered casually. "Except this time I think we violated some kind of noise ordinance."

"How did you manage that?"

"Dr. O. was running around the bases screaming." Answered Conner.

"What?!"

"So was Conner." Added Ethan.

"What?!"

"During play."

"Hey!" Conner shouted defensively. "I apologized to that guy I knocked over and he's knee is going to be fine."

"_What?!"_

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"They did what?" Captain Mitchell said in loud disbelief.

"It's a permanent ban." Haylie continued. "But the manager isn't pressing charges."

"What?!"

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"Kira's healing really quickly." Dana said. Tommy, having returned to sanity, had also returned to his previously depressed state. She got no response from him. "It could have something to do with those genetic modifications." Still no answer. "Do you have any of your research notes? Maybe some past records of similar incidents?" Yet again, Tommy said nothing. "They could really help." He sighed.

"Yeah. But they're back in Reefside."

"Well, let's go get them."

"No!" Tommy said quickly. "I mean, you're a doctor. You need to stay here with Kira. I'll go by myself."

"It's not safe."

"Doesn't matter." He stood up. "I've got to help."

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Kimberly and Dana watched Tommy stalk out the door in silence.

"You following him?" Dana predicted after a moment.

"Yeah. Someone has to."

"You want me to come?"

"Nah. We'll be fine." She waved her off. "Catch ya on the flip side." And she vanished through the doors.

Cat: There it was, light and fun! But also it set up the next chapter which is going to be much more emotional, so stay tuned (and I promise it'll be out by next week!!) R and R please!


	11. Wait, Tommy Did What?

Cat: Hey all! Thanks for the Reviews! Everyone get excited—this is a short chapter but many questions will be answered including (drum-roll please) why Tommy is so depressed and the identity of the Mysterious Assailant.

**Disclaimer: "Me" is to "Power Rangers" as "Own" is to "not me" **

"Wait, Tommy did what?" Haylie repeated.

"He went back to Reefside. But Kim's with him." Dana said, slightly hurt by Haylie's harsh tone.

"Damnit. Cam!" She called for the person she's been in communication with for over a year. "Come on. We've got to go find them."

"There's two of them, are you sure they're not gonna be okay?"

"Kat and Justin were two people two." Haylie answered pointedly.

"Tori and I'll go." Blake offered. "No offense, but we can defend ourselves a little better than you can." Haylie didn't want to, but she had to admit that he was right.

"Fine. Go."

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"Okay, so, why exactly did you think it was okay to volunteer me for this?" Tori asked as she and Blake sped down the highway. Blake didn't reply, so Tori resorted to guessing. "Did you not think about it? Or did you think that you knew me well enough to just assume? Or—"

"Maybe," Blake interrupted, "I just wanted to spend some time alone with you." There was a slight pause. "Is that okay with you?" Tori settled back in her seat.

"Yes, actually. That's perfect with me."

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Tommy shifted a few papers around in the Ruins irritably. "Come on, be here." He muttered. His elbow slipped, and a massive stack of various notes cascaded to the floor. He cussed appropriately and he knelt down to pick them up with shaking hands and sweaty palms. On his hands and knees, he chased a stray piece across the well trafficked floor. Grabbing it with an intense amount of irritation, he didn't even care that he inadvertently crumpled it.

"Tommy." The concerned voice was familiar, tender, and entirely unwelcome. "Are you all right?" Kim continued. Tommy shot to his feet so quickly that he bashed his head on the laser that they had used to destroy Mesogog's base. He stumbled away from it, not even sparing a glare for it. His whole attention was focused on the newcomer. Kim took a slightly step back at the wild look on his face. It was almost terror. She frowned and—slightly ashamed for having shrunk back in the first place—hurried over to him. Tommy jumped backwards.

"Leave now." He ordered. Kimberly wasn't deterred. Obviously Tommy needed her and she didn't intend to abandon him. She reached out without hesitation and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Tommy jerked back, stumbling against the computer console as he did so. "You don't understand!" He shouted. "Go!"

"Tommy, what's—" The teacher fell to his knees, head clasped firmly between both hands. A shot of pure fear ran through Kimberly as she watched him convulse on the floor. She took three steps back, her hand groping for something—anything—to grab on to and it found only empty air. "I'm calling nine one one." She announced, turning back towards the main house.

A firm hand around her wrist halted her steps. She glanced down questioningly at Tommy as he stood. "Don't." he ordered and Kimberly stifled a gasp as his eyes glowed white.

Cat: R and R por favor!


	12. We won't, I Swear

Cat: Hey all! Wow. I got a great response from the last chapter! Does Happy Dance This is a bit of a filler chapter—I apologize. But it had to be done.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers…but maybe if I was Bill Gates they'd sell it to me. **

"The door's open." Blake observed ominously as he and Tori pulled into Tommy's driveway. "And his car's here."

"So's Kim's." The two nearly fell over in their haste to get legs that were stiff from hours of driving into motion again.

"You think something happened?" Their eyes searched the front of the house desperately for any sign of struggle but found nothing.

"God, I hope not." Tori said quietly as she stepped into the front hall, Blake only one step behind her. The two were tense, running high on adrenaline and with all their senses open and alert.

Behind them a hot laser opened fire and they reacted with all the skill and speed that years of ninja training had bestowed upon them.

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Cassie's cell phone rang again and Kelsey glanced at her. "Why're people always calling you and not me?" she pouted.

"Just lucky I guess." Cassie replied as she stepped out of the crowed cafeteria and into the quiet hallway. "Hello, this is Cassie." She intoned into the phone.

"Hey Cass, it's me."

"Ashley!" Cassie cheered. "You sound really happy."

"Well, right now we're hovering over Mariner Bay Park, waiting for enough people to get clear that we can land."

"You're back! Thank God, we've been so worried."

"Yeah, and that's not all."

"What else could there be?" Cassie could tell by the joyous tone in her friend's voice that she had really really good news. However, she never could have guessed what that news actually was.

"We found Zhane."

"What?!"

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"Hey guys?" Kira asked Conner and Ethan hesitantly. They glanced at her questioningly. "I need you're help." They gaped at her—Kira never ever asked for help. "I've gotta get out of here." Conner glanced around the hospital like room, noting the blank walls and the lack of conversation. He grinned a smile that made Kira slightly regret asking for assistance.

"No problem." He said. "I've got a plan."

Ethan didn't seem to share the Yellow Ranger's reservations. "Count me in."

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"Hey, do you know where Dana is?" Max asked, Danny acting as wingman.

"What are you planning?" Taylor asked loudly and bluntly. Max and Danny started guiltily.

"Us? Nothing! What makes you think we're planning something?" Max asked, hoping that he sounded innocent.

"Because why would you be looking for 'evil prison guard lady?'" She retorted astutely.

"Okay, you caught us. But no one's gonna get hurt." The Blue Ranger assured her.

"Yes. We promise." Danny added, nodding. Taylor hesitated for a long moment.

"She's that way." She said finally, pointing.

"Thanks, Taylor!" Max said brightly before running off in the direction she indicated.

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"What do you want to borrow the jeep for?" Dana asked curiously.

"We just wanted some fresh air and stuff, and my car's back in Turtle Cove." Max said before falling into a guilty ramble. "Cause, you know, we were in the Anamarium and then we got attacked by Trent and chased onto the Megaship and then there was the pie thing in Angel Grove and then Kira got attacked and I just never got around to picking it up." Dana surveyed him suspiciously.

"Don't get into any trouble." She warned.

"We won't, I swear." Piped Danny.

"And try not to get thrown out of any place."

"No promises, but we'll try." Max replied. "And thank you soo soo much!" He again left at a run.

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"Nice job at getting us permission, dudes." Conner complimented. He tried to get behind the wheel of the jeep but Ethan unceremoniously pushed him into the back seat. Kira slipped into shotgun happily.

"Well," Max said honestly, "we didn't actually get permission for _you_."

"So I suppose that's supposed to be a round about way of telling us to move faster?" Ethan guessed.

"Exactly."

"Drive." Kira ordered and Ethan floundered to comply.

Cat: R and R por favor!


	13. So, What Do We Do Now?

Cat: Hey all! Sorry about the lack of breaks, I fixed it now.

**Disclaimer: Nope--still not mine**

"So, where're we headed?" Ethan asked as they drove along the highway, enjoying the day.

"Baseball game?" Conner suggested.

"Which part of 'permanent ban' don't you get?" Max marveled.

"Give him a break." Kira chimed, not quite amicably. "It's got more than two syllables."

"Hey!" Ethan suppressed a laugh.

"Look out!" Danny shouted, using a louder voice then they'd thought that he was capable of. Two blue blurs dropped from the sky and landed on the road before them as Ethan slammed on the break. The jeep fishtailed to a stop as everyone inside stood up to get a better view.

"Blake! Tori!" The two ninjas looked badly beaten and stumbled over towards them.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Conner asked.

"Can I guess?" joked Kira, trying to lighten the mood. Tori looked as though she wanted to smile, but didn't, and Blake spoke seriously.

"We need to get back to the Aquabase. Now."

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"Kira took off." Dana sighed.

"She did?" Ryan wanted to know, completely astounded that anyone had the gall to stand up to his sister in Protective-Doctor Mode.

"Conner and Ethan went with her?" Haylie guessed. Dana shrugged.

"I haven't seen them around, so they probably did." She paused as a bad though occurred to her. "You don't think they went back to that mountain house alone, do you?" Haylie laughed.

"They might be totally idiots, but their not gonna run that risk."

"Are you sure?" questioned Ryan. Haylie nodded. "Besides, they're having too much fun to leave now."

"Only they would think this is fun." Dana added dryly.

"Hey!" Ryan interjected. "I'm having fun." Dana was about to respond when a joyous shout reverberated through the metal halls.

"Ashley! Andros! Zhane! You're back!"

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Upon the return of the Dino and Ninja Rangers, the once relaxed and happy Aquabase instantly ignited into a near-panicked bustle. Without explaining why, Blake and Tori had instantly locked themselves in the Captain's office with the rest of their team, Captain Mitchell, Shayla, and Haylie.

"Okay, so what's this about?" Haylie asked.

"I didn't want to say anything until we'd talked it out first." Blake responded.

"About what?" prompted Shayla.

"Tommy Oliver's been infected by the White Dino Gem." Haylie stood up sharply, abandoning one of three chairs in the office that she'd fought hard to win.

"Tommy would—"

"Tommy tried to kill us and Kimberly is dead in his basement." Blake cut her off loudly. Haylie nearly choked on her own tongue, and sat back down dully.

"He went after Kat and Justin alone." Shane recalled, a look of horror seemingly tattooed to his face.

"And in the hotel, we thought he was keeping watch…." Blake added, mentally kicking himself.

"And he was the one who had the Gem." Hunter put in. There was a long silence.

"So what do we do now?" Dustin wanted to know. No one had an answer for him.

**Cat: Short chapter—I know. But I wanted to have a little bit of an emotional break here. R and R. Or don't. I'm not entirely sure that this chapter merits a review….**


	14. And Kissed Her on the Cheek

Cat: Hey all! As a birthday gift to myself I finished this story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get pumped for regular updates!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot!

**Disclaimer: I'll trade you my Pringles for your Power Rangers. **

"Okay, so we're all here." Cole summarized as all of the remaining Rangers leaned against various bits of the walls, chairs (Tori, Blake, and Haylie had retained them from earlier), and the table. "What's up?"

"It's Tommy." Haylie said cryptically. Kira's breath caught and Ethan and Conner glanced at each other. A Ranger who'd been missing for days, all alone, with their still unknown serial killer on the loose? They all thought that they knew exactly what Haylie was about to say—but they needed her to say it anyway. Therefore they were all stunned into absolute silence by her next words. "We think he's been infected by the White Dino Gem."

"What?" Jason spluttered. "No. It's not possible."

"It _is_ possible." Blake insisted.

"How? How do you know?"

"Well it was kind of a tip off when he tried to kill me." He was starting to sound slightly irritated, not by Jason's disbelief, but to vent excess frustration. He really really really didn't want to have to do what he thought they were going to have to.

"So what?" Kira asked, clearly shaken. "What are we supposed to do?" No one met her eyes and Conner interpreted the silence angrily.

"What? You want us to kill him? No. I refuse."

"What else are we supposed to do?" Andros' voice was resigned.

"He's been killing us off." Zhane agreed. "We see a bad guy, we destroy the bad guy. That's our duty as Rangers."

"This time is totally different!" Conner argued. "Dr. O's under a spell. He needs our help."

"A spell that no one's ever been able to break." Captain Mitchell put in.

"Do we need to remind you what happened the last time we thought the power of the White Gem was broken?" Carlos added, with a bit more venom than the Captain. Conner should have predicted that he'd react that way, his two best friends had just been killed. TJ by Trent and Justin by—he still refused to admit, even in his mind, that Tommy was capable of murder. So he let the thought hang.

Ethan looked around the room hopelessly. He searched face after face. Some, like Andros and Mitchell, knew that they didn't have a choice. Others, like Carlos, were out for a more personal revenge against the White Ranger—it didn't even matter that it wasn't Trent anymore. Haylie just looked as though the thought made her want to cry—something Ethan thought he'd never ever see—but he knew that she'd do whatever it was going to take to protect the world. Conner just continued to glare at each and every person in the room. His gaze fell on Kira. There were tears in her eyes and she was rocking back and forth slightly, muttering under her breath as though insanity had struck.

"There's gotta be something." She was saying. Around her Rangers were leaning over to other Rangers and whispering thoughts, desires, and hesitations. They were organizing logistics and fight patterns and doing all these things that were necessary to prepare mentally and physically for a tough battle. "We've got us, and the original team, no Zeo Rangers, Turbo—which was the same as Space," Kira continued mumbling. Conner turned around to face his two remaining teammates.

"I don't care what they say." Conner said fiercely.

"Three Galaxy—but they're not here, all of Wild Force—and their zords," Kira was clearly paying no attention to Conner's frustration. The former Red Ranger didn't seem to care very much—or to even really notice.

"I'm not gonna fight Dr. O."

"Ninja Storm, most of Time Force is in the future…." Kira looked up, eyes bright and wide. "HA!" She laughed triumphantly.

"What?" both boys asked in unison.

"I've got a plan." She announced. She outlined it in two breathless sentences.

Ethan felt a thousand pounds lighter. Even though the plan was a long shot, it was still a plan—and at that moment any plan was amazing. Without pausing he leaned forward and kissed Kira lightly on the cheek. "Kira, you're brilliant!" He declared in a tone that was nearly a giddy shout.

"We'll take the Megawinger into space." Conner said, continuing to streamline the idea while Kira beamed with happiness. "That way we can't be interrupted. And we can use the computers onboard."

"Right." Agreed Ethan. "It could take me a while to pull this off."

"A while to do what?" Andros asked, having tuned into their conversation just at the word "megawinger."

"Andros," Conner announced, a somewhat crazed grin lighting up his entire face. "We're gonna need to borrow your ship."

"Yeah, and Wes," Kira added, calling the Ranger out of deep conversation with his fellow Silver Guardian, "we need to borrow your morpher." By that time the combination of strange requests and happy voices had drawn the attention of everyone in the room. Wes surveyed them all carefully.

"For what?"

**Cat: Another short chapter, but it felt like a good place to stop. **


	15. Not That Color Blue!

Cat: Hey all! I've been trying to post this for over a week, but was being mean to me. Oh well, here it is now.

He he. I feel evil—I'm not telling what the plan is. But, here's a new chapter and it's a bit longer than normal, so get psyched.

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Power Rangers, you'd know. Trust me. **

"Okay, so why are we babysitting?" Conner asked as the Dino Rangers prepared to take off.

"Because you're gonna be safe." Kelsey replied casually.

"Can't we at least bring along a baby sitter?" He whined.

"You are the babysitter." Ethan joked. "Cause, you know, you're not exactly going to be very helpful." Conner made a face but could think of no suitable comeback so he remained silent.

"I'm going too." Cam announced.

"Hello, dude." Conner replied, glad to have an excuse to not respond to Ethan. "You're, like, a ninja warrior. They need you down here."

"Samurai, technically." Haylie put in.

"Whatever."

"Besides," Kira added to Cam, "we've already got Ethan and Haylie and Mrs. Fairweather and Trini and Greg. And if we need you, we'll call."

"I suppose that will have to suffice." Cam sighed. "But if you need help don't hesitate."

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"Okay Hannah." Carter was saying to his daughter. "You're gonna hafta go back with Auntie Kira." The girl let out a shrill cry of happiness and Kira started.

"'Auntie Kira?"" She repeated nervously. Dana just grinned at her and Carter continued instructing Hannah in proper behavior.

"Don't bother her while she's working and try not to make too big of a mess, okay?"

"Okay!" She answered brightly and tore across the park towards Kira.

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"I'm not sure that I like this." Ashley confided in her husband as they watched from a safe distance as the Megawinger's engines fired. "Sending everyone off into space in one ship. The last time we tried that it was a disaster."

"We have no evidence that Tommy can reach them in space." He answered calmly, comfortingly. However, Ashley continued darkly.

"We didn't have any evidence last time either."

The ship shot irrevocably into empty space.

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"Okay." Joel said loudly, getting the attention of the group of remaining Rangers. "Now, what's the plan?" He grinned to himself and then added mischievously, "And no, Kelsey, hiding under a bench does not count as a plan." The yellow Ranger made a face and dug into her pockets, searching for anything. Pulling out what she had inside, she promptly chucked two quarters at Joel's head. He massaged the spot as the Rangers laughed.

"We've got to find a way to distract Tommy so he doesn't go after the Megaship." Cole announced. Ever dutiful, he'd actually been considering what they should do next instead of goofing off.

"So, where do we find him?" There was a pause.

"I don't know where Tommy is," Jason said, "but I know where we can go that he'll find us."

"Okay, where's that?" Chad wondered.

"Come on guys," Jason coaxed, "where did we always go?" Cassie and Ashley exchanged a knowing glance. In unison they responded.

"The Juice Bar."

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"Wow, Tommy." Ernie said as the bedraggled man entered and sat down on one of the swivel stools that kids loved. "You don't look so good." Ernie reached behind the counter for a glass of water for him and Tommy sighed.

"Yeah. It's been a rough week." Ernie handed him the glass and he eagerly drank from it.

"You know, when most adults have a bad day they go to a real bar." Ernie mentioned.

Tommy put the glass down again. "Well, I'm actually waiting for some people."

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"You know," Trini said cautiously. She was watching intently from behind as Ethan, Greg, Fairweather, and Haylie all bent over an open computer panel. A thousand colored wires poked out in a massive knot so complex that all five were hesitant to touch it. "I really hate to be a rain-cloud, but you all realize that if this doesn't work the guys back on Earth are—"

"Yeah." Greg cut in angrily. "We realize that." Properly ashamed at being chided by the boy, Trini fell into silence for a long while. Greg continued unperturbed. "Now are you gonna help us or not?" She nodded and swallowed.

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"Why, exactly, are we going looking for the guy who's trying to kill us?" Dustin asked.

"We're trying to distract him." Tori explained again as the paused outside the door to the Juice Bar.

"I got that part." He said, sounding offended that she thought he was that stupid. "But why? It's not like he knows what we're up to. Besides, even if he did, they're in space. How the hell is he gonna get up into space?"

"Trent managed it, didn't he?" reminded Shane.

"It is unwise to underestimate an adversary." Agreed Sensei. Dustin looked unconvinced, but said nothing more.

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Around the corner, Tommy leaned against the wall of the building for support. Ears pricked for all sound, he tensed at the conversation he'd just overheard. He frowned, instantly abandoning his plan to ambush them. If they were trying to distract him, he needed to ignore it and work of reaching whoever (whatever) was happening in space. The main problem was how to manage it. He hit his head twice on the building, as though trying to bash loose the solution. He quickly stopped, a wicked grin spreading out across his features. His shone with the Gem's power once more and he slipped away around the back.

"Our parents are never gonna forgive us for this one." Conner announced from the back corner of the ship.

"Orange." Hannah ordered and Conner obediently handed her the requested color crayon while Kiri paced aimlessly, listening.

"I mean," He continued as though there had been no interruption. "They were mad enough at us for the Trent thing. If they find out we went on another major adventure we're going to be grounded for the rest of our lives."

"Blue." He rolled his eyes and passed her another crayon. Kiri spoke slowly, and she didn't meet his eyes.

"I really don't think grounding is the biggest of our problems right now."

"Not that color blue!" Hannah squealed as the two Rangers fell into silence.

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"Any of you guys seen him yet?" Cassie was asking through her well used cell.

"Nope. Still nothing." Responded Tori. The Rangers had split up about an hour before. They'd walked into the Juice Bar only to be informed by Ernie that Tommy had just left. They'd waited around to see if he was planning on surprising them, then decided that he could be up to something and that they needed to find him as soon as possible. They'd broken off as teams and had all spread out to check their usual haunts. The Ninja Storm Rangers, had been left as guards in the Juice Bar—just in case he came back.

"Well, we've checked everywhere." Cassie continued. "We've been to back alleys, the hotel, even a couple of those restaurants we were banned from. And I've called all the others. No one's seen him."

"Well," Tori sighed. On the stool beside her Cam was tapping the counter in a way that was exceptionally irritating and distracting. However, Tori knew from experience that tapping helped the tapper to think, so she said nothing. "If I were under an evil spell and trying to kill people, where would I go?" She mumbled

"Home base." Hunter said, both suddenly and loudly. The other ninjas started. "He'd have gone back to his notes and his weapons and stuff." He continued.

"Oh no." Everyone turned to stare at the usually composed Cam. "In the Ruins," he began, looking fearful. Everyone leaned forward to better hear him. He swallowed and started over. "The Dino Rangers used a massive laser to blow up Mesogog's island." Around him faces paled in freight at the conformation of a major flaw in the plan. An epic flaw. A fatal flaw.

"Can it hit a target in outer space?" Hunter asked seriously.

"Easily."

Cat: R and R por favor!!!


	16. We Don't Need to Panic

Cat: Hey all! New chapter! There is some more character death, but I glazed over it. This fic has never been about blood and angst and I don't want to turn it into that. Unfortunately it has affected some of the fight scenes and I'm slightly disappointed with them. However, the last sequence is one of my personal favorites, so ENJOY!

PS. Italics are a flashback.

**Disclaimer: I'm sorry. I don't speak Lawyer. **

"Wait." Shane ordered. "We don't need to panic. Even if he has the laser, he doesn't know that anyone is in space. So we call up the Megaship and tell them to take evasive maneuvers, sneak in, destroy the laser, and everything's fine. Right, guys?"

Cam took a deep breath. "Right."

"Let's do it." Blake said and the Rangers got to work.

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"Still no luck?" Kira called forward. The group of technologically gifted Rangers shifted, grateful for the excuse to take a break. Still limbs and aching backs stretched luxuriously as Ethan responded to her question.

"Well, we don't want to mess up anything that'll prevent the ship from flying. Or do anything that might accidentally ruin temperature or oxygen levels or something."

"It would be nice if we had a little more to work with." Fairweather put in.

"At least we don't have so many people in here this time." Ethan put in, forcibly inserting cheerfulness into the ship. No one disputed his claim, grateful for his attempt to lighten the mood. However, the space taken up by the sheer mess that was the dismantled computer console meant that, even though there were fewer people, there still wasn't a lot of room in the Megawinger.

"And at least we have one kid to babysit and not four." Greg added.

"Amen!" Kira shouted, eliciting a small laugh from an unidentifiable member of the group.

"And at least we're not rushed." Haylie added.

"True." Agreed Ethan. "We've got all the time in the world."

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"Okay," Taylor said irritably, leaning on the edge of a large fountain. "Ninja Storm did their super-speed thing to go and save the day while we sit here."

"Look," Cole said soothingly. "I understand your frustration, but they can get there a lot faster than we can."

"So we're just supposed to sit here? Besides, no one on the Megaship was answering their communicator."

"They must have cannibalized them for a few parts." Cole rationalized—refusing to admit the other possibility. They were not dead. No way were they dead.

"It's not like there's anything we could do to help them." Alyssa added.

Taylor crossed her arms over her chest and glared at a spot on the pavement around them, but Max stood.

"Taylor's right." He announced. The Yellow Ranger looked up in surprise. "Even if we get there a little later, they could need us." Danny nodded. There was a pause.

A massive smile crossed Cole's face. "Look's like I'm out voted."

Tommy took a step back, panting, as he admired his achievement. He'd successfully managed to move an incredibly awkward and unbelievably heavy laser all the way from his basement to his backyard. He wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead with his wrist before getting back to work. His fingers moved clumsily over the machine's buttons as he programmed it to search for the Megawinger's coordinates. The message "searching" appeared on the screen and Tommy rolled his eyes. He'd have to wait, and he had always hated waiting. It was boring.

"Hey!" Tommy spun around. Before him all six Storm Rangers stood before him, morphed and deadly looking. "You really don't want to do that!" The Red Ranger informed him. Tommy smiled to himself. Maybe waiting wouldn't be so boring after all.

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Hunter held back some force as his fist collided with the teacher's face. He couldn't really help it. It was Tommy. Tommy had helped him fight Lothor after he'd resurfaced from the Abyss of Evil. Together they'd been thrown out of more restaurants than either of them could list. This was the same man who'd convinced his little brother to barricade a reporter into her hotel room with a vending machine. And he hated to admit exactly how hard it was for him to fight him. Not that it was an easy fight anyways. Considering that it was six against one (and Tommy hadn't shown any signs of being morph-capable) it should have been a ridiculously easy fight. But, while Hunter was in no way in jeopardy of losing, Tommy wasn't bleeding on the ground either. He figured that everyone else must be holding back as much as he was. The possibility that Tommy just kicked the much butt was not one he was willing to entertain.

Hunter jumped back moments before Tommy's foot slammed into his solar plexus. He reached out instinctively to perform the required counterattack. However, his hand slipped through the air—the target suddenly gone.

"Whatthe—?" Dustin shouted, spinning around, but Tommy was gone.

Something very solid struck the side of Hunter's head he reeled backwards, eyes searching the yard for the source.

It was at that point that Hunter realized exactly what was happening. He cussed loudly and without restraint. The Dino Rangers still had weird powers from their gems. And that meant that Tommy was invisible.

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Cole skidded to a stop on the grass, the rest of his team beside him. "Woah." He said slowly. The carnage before them didn't suit the backyard of a science teacher, but that's where they were. None of the Rangers had maintained their morphs and Cam was lying motionlessly against the side of the house. The other Rangers didn't appear much better off. They were being battered and beaten by an unseen adversary, as though they fought the wind.

"Where is he?" Max questioned and no one had an answer.

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"Do you guys think this is gonna work?" Kira asked. The seven Rangers huddled around a small screen hopefully.

"We're trying to make contact with the future." Greg replied tersely. "We did our best."

"That's not comforting." Kira informed him.

"Okay!" Ethan cut in. "Here goes nothing." He flicked a switch and a humming resounded in the small cabin. No one moved. No one breathed. They just stared at the screen as it flickered to life—a bright blue screen that only awaited instructions.

"Yes!" Ethan yelled, throwing both fists in the air in an unusual display of triumph. Just as he spoke, black overtook the screen. His face fell and the hum died away. "No!"

"We need more power." Haylie informed them.

"Well there isn't any more." Greg shot back, the strain of the past few days showing itself more clearly than ever through his attitude.

"We can't just quit!" Trini piped in a scandalized tone.

Conner summed up the situation best, in four simple words. "We are so screwed."

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"There's gotta be somewhere that we can get more power from." Kira insisted. "The engines! The weapons!"

"We already diverted all the power from there." Greg said. The room had quieted. Now instead of everyone yelling over each other everyone sat in near silence as they mentally ran through every possible plan. Suddenly, Greg brightened. "Lights." He said cryptically.

"We can't get enough power from the lights." Fairweather replied.

"Yes, but if you add that to the power from the temperature control and control over CO2 levels and steering and all that stuff that we were terrified to touch," He listed. "Then we should have plenty."

"If we do that we're history." Haylie argued calmly.

"And if we don't we're gonna hafta kill Tommy Oliver. Assuming he doesn't kill us first." Greg replied seriously. "And if it works," he continued, "this whole situation isn't going to be an issue."

"No." Fairweather's voice was firm. "Not with Hannah on board." All eyes traveled to the oblivious girl. She glanced up at them innocently and grinned at the attention. She held up her coloring book happily.

"Looky what I drew." She said, a foolishly proud smile plastered to her face.

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Tommy knew what his goal was. He'd caught a glimpse of the computer panel on the laser just a moment before and it had proudly announced that it was locked on target. Just one button and whatever was happening wouldn't be a problem anymore. He may be on the far side of the yard, but he didn't think that slipping past a bunch of oblivious Rangers would be too much of an issue. Man, it was good to be invisible.

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"Alyssa!" Cole's voice was panicked, pained, as he saw his fiancée go flying across the yard. She impacted with the ground, triggering an explosion of loose sparks. If it made a sound, Cole couldn't hear it over the pounding of the blood in his ears. He rushed over, nearly toppling on injured legs. He was at her side in a moment, but it was still too late.

Through tear-filled eyes he looked up and surveyed the butchery around him. The massacre—No—the slaughter. And the killer was still beyond sight and therefore beyond reach.

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"We'll vote." Conner said finally, firmly. They others glanced at him hesitantly. It seemed like an important issue to leave up to the failings of democracy. If they'd stopped to consider it they'd have realized how unfair of a vote it was. Five of the seven were on a team with Tommy and incredibly devoted to him. Even if everyone else voted against the plan, they were still the minority. However, no one appreciated this at the time.

"All for?" He asked. Five hands rose into the air, Conner's, Ethan's, Haylie's, Greg's, and Trini's. Ethan shot Kira a confused look. She bit the inside of her cheek due to the sheer stress of the situation. She felt very very responsible for Hannah. But she couldn't hurt Dr. O. Taking a deep breath she raised a hand that shook slightly.

Hands falling by their sides, they all glanced at the obviously outvoted Fairweather. She glared at them, but didn't linger. She passed wordlessly to the back of the ship with the child and sat down, firmly ignoring them all.

"I guess it's decided then." Kira said quietly. "Go ahead and get started, guys." Ethan, Trini, Greg, and Haylie did just that.

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Tommy shimmered into visibility. Around him the Rangers lay in smoking ruins—either dead or far too injured to pose a threat. A slight smile lightened his features as he strode purposefully towards the laser. Glancing down at the console, a brief memory surfaced.

"_I cannot believe that the laser actually has a big red button." Ethan laughed. "You only ever see these in bad fanfiction and low budget TV shows!" _

"_Photo-copy machines have a big green button." Kira offered, placing delicate stress on the difference of colors._

"_Yeah, and some cars have big red buttons." Conner added. _

"_Triangular ones." Ethan corrected. "For hazard flashers. If you press it, it doesn't actually blow up stuff up." _

"_Well," Haylie tried to explain her rational before the three teens wrote her off as insane for designing it. "I figured that no one would be stupid enough to press it if it was red and obvious." _

"_Haylie," Tommy had said sympathetically. "Clearly you missed a lesson on the teenage psyche. Big red buttons inspire curiosity—not caution." He had tried not to laugh at her, but his students had had no similar qualms. They roared loudly and turned their scathingly loving insults on him. _

"_That would you know about the teenage psyche, Dr. O.?" _

"_Yeah. You haven't been a kid since, like, the forties." _

"_I am not that old!" _

"_Yeah, you are." _

His fingers lingered over the blaring clear button.

Cat: Review. You know you want to.


	17. Did She Hang Up On Us?

Cat: Hey all! New chapter! A very short one though. And I nearly cried recently when I realized that this story is almost over. What will I do with my free time then? (That's a coded plea for inspiration from any and all reviewers). Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine. **

"Hello?" The unfamiliar female voice floated to Jen through her communicator. The entire Time Force team instantly stopped training to look down at the young holographic figure. "This is Kira Ford." The girl announced nervously. "I'm looking for someone named Jen."

"I'm Jen." She said. "But—"

Kira breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thank God. I'm one of the Dino Thunder Rangers, and we need your help." Her voice was rapid and hopeful. The Time Force Rangers glanced at each other as Kira quickly outlined the problem and what she hoped could be the solution. "We need you to go back in the past and prevent this." Jen hesitated.

"I'm gonna have to call you back." She responded suddenly.

"WHAT?!" Kira made no attempt to hide her shock and betrayal as Jen cut the connection.

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Tommy frowned, suddenly angry with himself for allowing such sentiment to rule his actions. He punched the button hard, and it gave an audible click as a deadly stream of bright red shot out and into the blue sky.

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The Time Force Rangers again made eye contact. None of them spoke for a very long time.

Jen's sad, honest, voice broke the quiet. "I wish we could help."

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"Dude, did she just hang up on us?" Conner asked, his overly dramatic disbelief both breaking the silence and unintentionally displaying the depths of his fear. The cabin was already chilled, the feeling of deep space penetrating the thin protection of the ship. Silently, Conner begged for someone to reassure him. Again, the prospect of killing his teacher, teammate, and mentor rushed in his mind. Actually _killing_ him. As in dead.

Kira suddenly realized that her hand, still unconsciously gripping the makeshift microphone which Haylie had constructed, was trembling and sweaty. The cold didn't even register as she continued to stare at the black, black screen. Despite the methodical way she had reacted when she first heard the news about Tommy, her brain was now very still. Nothing at all was processed, as though her mind itself was in rebellion against the situation.

Ethan heard Conner's comment and decided to respond. Unfortunately, he was very distracted as he tried to mentally force himself to stop calculating exactly how long it would take them to die out there. In the dark. And the cold. Away from their homes and families. As badly as he wanted to avoid that line of thinking, it wouldn't release his thoughts and he ended up saying the only thing that came to his mind. "Yeah."

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The laser struck the Megawinger with heat so forceful it was almost cold, warming the dark and chill cabin with great speed. None of the passengers even had a chance to react—or even to realize what was happening.

The explosion that followed wasn't visible far below, on the green and blue planet of Earth. And the Rangers on board felt no pain.

Cat: Well, that's it. R and R!


	18. Dude, Like, Steal It?

Cat: Hey all! FINAL CHAPTER!!! I am, however, working on a Kim/Tommy epilogue. I'm also toying with the idea of having a series of one shots based on the parts of the story that I was forced to skip (the swimming incident, moving the vending machine, etc.). If there are any which you'd particularly like to see, leave me a review. Until then, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. And trust me, that's probably for the best. **

"What're you talking about?" Trip demanded, his voice loud and sudden in the room full of very wrong-footed Rangers. They hadn't been expecting that call. It shouldn't have been a surprised; they were well versed in both Ranger history and Ranger ingenuity. But they weren't prepared to hear the desperation of that historic moment first hand. And now Trip's voice, which echoed slightly in the whitewashed room, seemed too harsh for the mourning atmosphere. "We have to go and help!"

"We can't." Jen insisted half heartedly. "It would change history."

"We've changed it before!"

"Not on purpose." Katie argued, looking despondently towards the far wall.

"I don't like it any more than you do but I don't see how we have any other choice!" Jen shouted. She was left panting from the burst of redirected frustration. She wanted to help, deeply and desperately. But it wasn't an option.

"What happened to making your own destiny?" He challenged. He turned beseechingly to his teammate. "Lucas, come on." Lucas couldn't meet his eye. Trip's voice rose in response as he openly yelled at his team. "So, what? They called us for help and we're just supposed to let them die?!"

"History says—" Jen said, much more meekly now.

"If none of us like it, why are we going along with it?"

"History says—"

Trip finished with one last question. "When have we ever let that stop us?"

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"Um, so." Taylor asked, voice betraying her hesitance with the plan. "Who's touching the scary rock?"

"Not me!" The Dino Ranger teens chimed at once.

"Dr. O. I vote you pick it up." Kira said overly cheerfully. As far as she was concerned, there were two possible ways to feel in that situation. The first was to treat it as a joke. The second was to be miserable and terrified that whoever evened up actually touching the Gem was going to wind up exactly like Trent. And that was not a thought that Kira particularly wanted to entertain.

"Yeah. I mean. Technically you did create it." Ethan added, also excessively bright. "So technically it's all your fault." Tommy frowned, but didn't really have a lot of choice. The "it's all your fault" argument was a very valid one.

He knelt down. Everyone peered down at him and the effect was a rather intimidating one. No one spoke again, and Tommy didn't exactly want to calculate exactly what his odds were.

_I'll be fine._ He told himself firmly. This _was Haylie's theory, and Haylie knows everything._

The Dino Rangers drew closer together as they watched their teacher get put into severe peril. Kira hear her heartbeat suddenly. It was steady and clear as Tommy's fingers stretched out across the deeply green grass.

A gust of wind and an accompanying roar made Tommy pause. The entire group glanced up just in time to see what looked like a massive yellow marble crash into the grass.

"What the hell is that?" Tommy asked loudly.

"Haha!" Conner shouted triumphantly. "He cussed!"

"'Hell' doesn't really count." Dustin argued.

"Yes it does." Ethan argued and Tommy desperately willed for any way to undo that last sentence. They returned their attention to the ship as large group disembarked.

"Hey!" Wes called from behind them. "We thought we saw something crash so we came to check it out!" He explained in a yell as he and Eric jogged up. As soon as he saw exactly what it was that had crashed, he fell very very still.

"The Time Ship?" Eric wondered.

"Hi guys." Trip said brightly as the Rangers approached.

"Woah." Ethan said, his wide eyes focused on the ship. "I think I might need CPR."

"Me too." Kira agreed, staring openly.

"What? Do we know them?" Conner asked stupidly.

"That's Time Force!" Kira squealed, trying to be quiet, and Conner's jaw dropped.

"Jen!" Wes said finally. "What're you doing here?"

"Kira gave us a call." Katie responded casually, pulling a large steel box out of the ship. Kira blinked and pointed to her chest stupidly.

"Me? I didn't—"

"Actually you did." Jen cut her off.

"Don't answer what you're doing here." Eric pointed out.

"Changing your future." The Pink Ranger answered cryptically as Trip pulled a thick black glove over one hand. Trip picked up the Dino Gem pieces individually, carefully, and then tossed them into the box that Katie held as though they were blazing with heat. After all three pieces were in the box; Trip relaxed noticeably and tossed the glove into the box as well. "Awesome guys." Jen called to them as they reloaded the box onto the Time Ship.

"What was this, the futuristic bomb squad?" Shane wondered.

"Toxic substance procedure actually." Lucas corrected with a grin. Without another word the four turned back towards the ship.

"Wait!" Wes called. "You're just gonna leave?" Time Force hesitated.

"We're changing history." Jen reminded her team.

"When have we ever let that stop us?" Trip repeated to her. Jen paused, considering. Finally, she smiled and strode purposefully up to Wes.

"Maybe later."

"YES!" Conner cheered. "Awesome dudes!"

"Can I take a look inside your ship?" Ethan begged.

"Maybe later." Jen replied again.

"I never called them." Kira said to her teammates quietly.

"Does it really matter that much?" Conner wanted to know.

"Yeah Kira, lighten up." Encouraged Ethan. "We're here with the most Power Rangers ever assembled."

"Who cares about that?" Conner asked. "The really cool part is that they all know embarrassing stories about Dr. O." Kira's eyes lit up as the three glanced over at their unsuspecting teacher. In contrast, Conner's darkened. "But we're gonna need some cash if we're ever going to survive."

"We should get some from Dr. O." Ethan said and both his teammates looked at him skeptically for a moment. In the same instant they realized that he wasn't suggesting anything legal.

"Dude, like, steal it?" Conner asked.

"Not 'steal.'" Replied Ethan defensively. "'Swap.'" He flipped out his empty duct tape wallet, silently elaborating on the plan. He brightened as a devilish grin dominated the red ranger's face, fully approving. Both boys glanced at Kira, waiting for the final authorization.

She paused for a moment. The last time she'd given into such insanity she'd ended up driving across the state, fleeing desperately from her parents. When she finally did respond to them there was no hesitation in her voice, only excitement.

"Let's do it."

**Cat: I hoped you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! This is officially the final time I will ask you for a review for this story. So please, review. **


	19. The Baseball Game

Cat: Hey all! I promised one-shots, so here's te first. Yes, I know that was forever ago, but life got out of control and I got very distracted by some other fanfic ideas. But I'm planning on writing a few more of these over Christmas, so get excited. They're going to be higher quality pieces than the main story, and a few of them might not be funny, but I'll try to keep it light.

So this takes place while the Rangers are all at the baseball game, and it's Greg-centric (but it develops the game's events more fully, so it's still interesting, I promise).

**Disclaimer: IDK, my BFF, Jill? **

Greg was frowning thoughtfully. His fingers awkwardly grasped another bit of cotton candy and he rolled the interesting treat around in his mouth. He wasn't sure that he really liked it, but it was part of "the experience." Or at least, that's what Cassie told him.

To be entirely honest, he couldn't understand the point of the 4th of July. He understood celebrating independence; they did that back on KO35 as well. He could understand fireworks, and he was very excited to get to see some (supposedly if the Rangers won the game there'd be a bunch—but Carter had warned him not to be too hopeful).

What he was more interested in was how the sport before him was historically linked to the revolution which had created the divide between countries. Naturally, there were two teams to represent those countries. They didn't usually mix, but the people "on base" (who Greg equated with the warriors) were closer to the enemy than to each other, a parallel which must've been design to represent the divisions of battle.

Both teams had even taken the names of their hometown, just like in the Americans' Revolutionary War. They were also represented by a single great leader, like Washington (The Rangers and the opposing team, the Bears—which seemed like a stupid choice to Greg, after all, what was a bear doing near a Power Ranger?).

Also, Joel had sportingly agreed to be a part of the rendition, pretending that he didn't want to dress as the mascot, which was basically like participating in the war, which was obviously meant to show the lengths to which civilians went to avoid fighting for their country. Though, in Greg's opinion Joel was starting to take it too far. After all, he was currently kneeling on the floor behind the food counter, hiding.

However, what Greg liked the best was the recreation of the chaotic nature of warfare, which Conner and Tommy had volunteered to represent. The two were currently running all over the battlefield screaming while the soldiers tried diligently to continue playing.

The boy couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

Cat: Review por favor!


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